The US Federal Reserve Board (FRB) has taken two enforcement actions against Deutsche Bank, its New York branch as well as other US affiliates over the unsafe and unsound practices and violations of the central banking system’s 2015 and 2017 consent orders.
In this regard, the FRB has issued a consent order to the German financial institution along with a fine of $186m.
The violated consent orders pertain to sanctions compliance and anti-money laundering controls.
According to the Federal Reserve Board, Deutsche Bank made unsatisfactory remedial progress under the 2015 and 2017 consent orders.
The American central banking system also found that the financial institution had inadequate anti-money laundering internal controls as well as governance processes in relation to its previous association with Danske Bank’s Estonian branch.
Deutsche Bank will be required to prioritise the completion of several crucial requirements of the prior orders under the newly issued consent order, said the US Federal Reserve Board.
The board has also separately announced a written agreement to address other general deficiencies that are associated with Deutsche Bank’s governance, risk management and controls.
Deutsche Bank said that it had taken various actions since 2019 and increased the size of its global anti-financial crime team by over 25% to improve effectiveness.
The bank‘s measures are said to have included extensive improvements to its client due diligence and transaction monitoring as well as significant investments in controls.
Deutsche Bank stated: “The Written Agreement and the Consent Order with the Federal Reserve relate to our historic tardiness in adhering to older enforcement actions and agreements, as well as a correspondent banking relationship we exited in 2015.
“We appreciate that the Federal Reserve recognises the progress we have made in recent years in remediating and resolving control weaknesses.”
