Ex-ABN Banker Running Danske Says He Knows Nothing of Dutch Case

(Bloomberg) -- The chief executive officer of Danske Bank A/S distanced himself from his former employer, ABN Amro Bank NV, after the Dutch firm said it was the target of a criminal probe involving alleged failures to screen clients and report potential money laundering.

Chris Vogelzang, who was an executive at ABN until early 2017, started as the Danske CEO in June. He was brought on board to help repair the Danish bank’s reputation following an Estonian money-laundering scandal that brought down his predecessor and set off multiple criminal investigations of Danske.

In an emailed comment on Thursday, Vogelzang said: “I have no knowledge of the matter described in today’s announcement from ABN Amro, and of course do not wish to comment on a company I have not worked for, for almost 3 years.” The Dutch government-controlled bank said earlier in the day that it faces an inquiry under the nation’s anti-money-laundering and terrorist-financing law, without providing details.

While ABN is the latest in a long list of European banks alleged to have handled potentially tainted money, Danske is the most notorious case. The Danish bank is being investigated across Europe and in the U.S. after admitting that it failed to properly screen about $220 billion in suspicious transactions at its Estonian branch. The case took a dramatic turn on Wednesday when the former head of that branch, Aivar Rehe, was found dead.

Vogelzang was hired to help Danske rebuild the trust of clients and investors. He has said fixing the bank’s reputation is his top priority, and was quick to crack down on misconduct since starting as CEO. Danske’s chairman, Karsten Dybvad, has pointed to Vogelzang’s experience at ABN as a key reason for hiring him.

At ABN Amro, Vogelzang was head of retail and private banking for eight years until he left in early 2017 amid a string of management changes. Local media reported at the time that Vogelzang was seen by the bank as the natural candidate to become CEO. But the Dutch government wanted someone with “social antennae.” The CEO title ended up going to Kees Van Dijkhuizen, a former CFO at ABN who’d also been a civil servant at the finance ministry.

Vogelzang’s predecessor at Danske, Thomas Borgen, is among a number of former executives at the Danish bank to have had preliminary criminal charges brought against them in the laundering investigations. Danske also faces class-action suits, because the scandal wiped billions of dollars off its market value. The stock dropped about 50% last year and is down 27% so far in 2019.

Hiring Vogelzang:

Speculation about who would replace Borgen had mounted in the seven months following his departure. Danske initially tried to put forward one of its top executives, a former CFO and head of wealth management, Jacob Aarup-Andersen. But he was rejected by the financial supervisor, which cited a lack of relevant experience. An acting CEO, Jesper Nielsen, was subsequently fired for overseeing a unit that has since been reported to the police for overcharging retail investors. Analysts had welcomed Vogelzang, pointing to the need for an external hire that would allow Danske to make a fresh start after the money laundering scandal.

--With assistance from Christian Wienberg.

To contact the reporters on this story: Frances Schwartzkopff in Copenhagen at fschwartzko1@bloomberg.net;Ruben Munsterman in Amsterdam at rmunsterman1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Tasneem Hanfi Brögger at tbrogger@bloomberg.net, Paul Sillitoe

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