Banking watchdog FSA has ordered Danske Bank to shut down its Estonian branch within eight months, as it is facing a money laundering scandal.
FSA (Financial Supervision Authority) head Kilvar Kessler said in a statement that the scandal “dealt a serious blow to the transparency, credibility, and reputation of the Estonian financial market, while the supervisory authority of the home country has handled the bank softly.”
It was in last November that the Danish prosecutors pressed primary charges against the bank for violating money-laundering laws. The charges were focused on the transfer of about 200 billion euros from the Estonian bank to more than 15,000 foreign clients, between 2007 and 2015.
Estonia’s central bank reported that the closure will not be affecting the Estonian economy as the bank had already stopped its services for private individuals in 2015.
