THE HAGUE – The Netherlands’ third-largest bank, ABN Amro, is to pay a €480 million (RM2.38 billion) settlement to prosecutors following a money-laundering probe, the lender announced today.
This follows a 2019 investigation by prosecutors, who said the Amsterdam-based bank failed to sufficiently monitor accounts, and did not report “unusual transactions” or reported them too late.
“Between 2014 (and) 2020, ABN Amro... failed to fulfil its role as gatekeeper with a view to combating money laundering,” said the bank in a statement.
“ABN Amro has accepted a transaction of €480 million offered by the public prosecution service.”
Two former top officials at the bank, namely ex-manager Chris Vogelzang and ex-CEO Gerrit Zalm, today said they are resigning from their current jobs at Danish institution Danske Bank as a result of the findings.
Prosecutors looked into ABN Amro after the overseeing Dutch Central Bank ordered it in August 2019 to audit all five million of its private clients.
The ABN Amro probe came in the wake of a massive €775 million fine dished out to top Dutch lender ING in 2018 over money laundering after it failed to ensure its accounts were not misused. – AFP, April 19, 2021
