February 07, 2019

Van Hollen, Warren Renew Call for Senate Banking Committee to Investigate Deutsche Bank

Today U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) sent a letter to Senate Banking Committee Chairman Mike Crapo urging the Committee to engage in a thorough, detailed bipartisan investigation into Deutsche Bank’s compliance history, followed by a report and hearing. This letter is a follow up to one they sent in December.

The full text of the letter is available below and here.

Dear Chairman Crapo:

We are writing to renew our request that the Committee engage in a thorough, detailed bipartisan Committee investigation into Deutsche Bank’s compliance history, to be followed by a report and hearing.

Since we sent our request last year, several new developments have occurred that demonstrate Deutsche Bank’s activities warrant further Congressional oversight. Last month, the chairs of the House Intelligence and Financial Services Committees announced they would pursue an investigation into Deutsche Bank’s dealings with the Trump Organization. Following this announcement, the ranking Republican on the House Financial Services Committee sent a letter to Deutsche Bank’s CEO requesting information regarding how the bank shields itself against illicit transactions, writing in part that “[i]t is critically important for the American public to have confidence Deutsche Bank is adequately addressing the vulnerabilities that allowed billions of dollars tied to criminal activities to move through the international banking system.”

U.S. and European regulators are also looking into Deutsche Bank’s involvement in Danske Bank’s alleged laundering of $230 million from its branch in Estonia. Press reports indicate that the Federal Reserve, Deutsche Bank’s U.S. regulator, is examining the bank’s involvement. And the European Parliament just this week had the head of Deutsche Bank’s anti-financial crime unit before a special session to review the Danske Bank matter.

Thank you again for your attention to this issue and look forward to working with you on these matters.

Sincerely,

 

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