Swedbank has reached a settlement agreement to pay $50 million to conclude an anti-money laundering investigation conducted by the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS). This payment, equivalent to approximately 482 million Swedish kronor, will be reflected as a financial expense in the bank’s third-quarter accounts.
The DFS investigation, which began in 2019, scrutinized Swedbank’s practices related to anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing, in addition to its information reporting conduct spanning from 2007 to 2019. This scrutiny covered the bank’s operations in Sweden, Estonia, and the United States.
Jens Henriksson, Swedbank’s President and CEO, commented that the investigation targeted events that took place more than ten years ago. He emphasized that this settlement enables the bank to move forward by resolving a matter that has been ongoing for an extended period.