Swedish regulator delays Swedbank, SEB money-laundering probe report

  • 2019-08-23
  • LETA/BNS/TBT Staff

STOCKHOLM - The Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (FSA) will publish the conclusions of its probe into alleged money laundering in the Baltics by the beginning of next year, it said on Friday, pushing back the deadline by several months, Reuters reported.

Swedish banks Swedbank and SEB are the subject of a joint probe by the Swedish and the Baltic financial watchdogs, originally scheduled to be completed in October.

"FSA plans to communicate the results of the investigations no later than the beginning of next year, which is later than previously indicated. The main reason is the considerable amount of material in the investigations," the FSA said in the statement.

The FSA said that during the month of July, it sent notification letters to SEB and Swedbank as part of the investigations into the banks' management and control of money laundering risks in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

"As previously communicated, FSA's investigations into these banks' management and control of money laundering risks in the Baltics are being conducted in cooperation with the supervisory authorities in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. This means that the supervisory authorities are coordinating the activities together and sharing information and assessments. This is necessary for FI to be able to receive more detailed information about the conditions in the Baltic subsidiaries," the statement reads.

"FSA's investigations aim to assess the Swedish banks' management and control of money laundering risks in their Baltic operations from 2007 onward. The Baltic authorities are simultaneously conducting investigations or other supervision activities to assess each subsidiary's compliance with local regulations," the Swedish FSA said.