Deutsche Bank Faces Growing U.S Scrutiny Over Money Laundering

(Bloomberg) -- Deutsche Bank AG is facing broadening U.S. scrutiny as a leading Republican lawmaker joined Democratic colleagues in questioning the company’s steps to combat money-laundering amid reports that its U.S. unit may have been a key conduit for dirty cash.

Representative Patrick McHenry, the top Republican on the House Financial Services Committee, sent a letter Thursday to CEO Christian Sewing, seeking documents that outline what internal and independent reviews have turned up about how the bank shields against illicit transactions. The North Carolina lawmaker’s move comes as the bank acknowledged that it has received an inquiry from House Democrats who are coordinating efforts to probe the Frankfurt-based lender and as the Federal Reserve looks into the company’s involvement with a scandal-plagued Danish bank.

“It is critically important for the American public to have confidence Deutsche Bank is adequately addressing the vulnerabilities that allowed billions of dollars tied to criminal activities to move through the international banking system,” McHenry said in his letter, which set a Feb. 7 deadline for a response from the bank.

McHenry highlighted Deutsche Bank’s involvement in scandals ranging from “mirror trading” to how its U.S. unit handled billions of dollars in tainted transactions from Danske Bank A/S. Bloomberg reported Wednesday that the Fed is looking into the Danske transactions, adding to the international authorities, including the U.S. Department of Justice, pursuing investigations on those interactions.

In response to the probes, the bank has launched internal reviews and been required to bring in outside firms to investigate its conduct and controls. McHenry requested that findings from those reviews be provided to the committee, even though the reports haven’t been made public.

“We remain committed to providing appropriate information to all authorized investigations,” the bank said Thursday in a statement responding to a request for comment. Deutsche Bank acknowledged earlier Thursday that it is engaged in “productive dialogue” with the House Financial Services and Intelligence Committees, whose leaders have said they will work together on oversight of the company.

Representatives Maxine Waters of California, who leads the financial services panel, and Adam Schiff of California, who leads the intelligence group, have said they’d jointly pursue information on the bank’s dealings with the real estate business of President Donald Trump. The Democrats, who ascended to chairmanships when their party took control of the House this year, have long been interested in the bank’s ties to the Trump Organization, but previously lacked authority to call witnesses or issue subpoenas for other material.

“The House Financial Services and Intelligence Committees are engaged in productive discussions with Deutsche Bank, and look forward to continued cooperation,” Waters and Schiff said in a statement.

Senate Democrats Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland last month urged Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo to probe the company’s correspondent banking business for vulnerabilities to money laundering.

The German lender has been sanctioned before by the Fed, its primary U.S. regulator. In 2017, the company agreed to pay $41 million to settle allegations its U.S. business failed to keep up sufficient money-laundering protections. The bank’s faulty monitoring involved billions of dollars in “potentially suspicious transactions” processed from 2011 through 2015, the Fed said, adding that the transactions involved affiliates in Europe that failed to provide “accurate and complete information.”

--With assistance from Billy House.

To contact the reporters on this story: Jesse Hamilton in Washington at jhamilton33@bloomberg.net;Elizabeth Dexheimer in Washington at edexheimer@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Jesse Westbrook at jwestbrook1@bloomberg.net, Gregory Mott

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