Deutsche Bank confirms AML raid at German headquarters

“This is an investigative measure by the Frankfurt public prosecutor’s office in connection with suspicious activity reports filed by the bank,” Deutsche Bank said in a statement. “Deutsche Bank is fully cooperating with the authorities.”

Germany’s market regulator BaFin did not publish any information regarding the raid and declined to comment further.

BaFin in April 2021 criticized Deutsche Bank’s anti-money laundering (AML) controls, expanding the mandate of a special monitor it placed at the bank nearly three years earlier to oversee the appropriate implementation of safeguards to comply with the German Money Laundering Act (Geldwäschegesetz). BaFin ordered the bank to “adopt further appropriate internal safeguards” and continue improving compliance with due diligence obligations, particularly regarding customer reviews.

Deutsche Bank responded in May 2021 with the appointment of Joe Salama as global head of anti-financial crime and group AML officer, followed by a handful of other personnel moves announced in June 2021 “to become more effective in all areas, but especially in the fight against financial crime,” Chief Administrative Officer Stefan Simon wrote in a memo at the time.

BaFin again came down on the bank in December, fining it 8.66 million euros (then-U.S. $9.8 million) for weaknesses in its Euro Interbank Offered Rate (Euribor) controls.