Danske Bank said it might again become subject to a formal investigation in France, instead of being an assisted witness, in connection with an ongoing investigation into organised money laundering of tax evasion proceeds.

Responding to media coverage of the ongoing investigation into possible violations of French AML laws between 2007 and 2014, Danske Bank said in a statement it is “still a party to the investigation in France, and we have an ongoing dialogue with the authorities.”

Danske Bank said it received a letter in January 2019 from an investigating judge of the French Tribunal de Grande Instance de Paris court summoning Danske Bank to an interview to discuss matters relating to the ongoing investigation into organised money laundering of tax evasion proceeds and stating that the judge envisages placing Danske Bank under formal investigation. “As a result, Danske Bank may again become subject to formal investigation instead of being an assisted witness,” the bank said. “The letter also indicated that the scope had been expanded to include transactions in the amount of approximately EUR 28 million [U.S. $32 million] in total between 2007 and 2014.”

Concluded the bank: “If our dialogue with the French judge results in a change of Danske Bank’s legal status, we will notify the market through the same channels as on previous occasions. In October 2017, when we were charged with violating French anti-money laundering legislation, we notified the market via a company announcement. We did the same in January 2018, when the status of Danske Bank in the investigation was changed to that of an assisted witness. Other than the above, Danske Bank cannot comment further on the case at the present time.”

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