“Danske Bank is an international organization with strong systems and routines, where anti-money laundering measures have the highest priority across the countries. In recent years, we have taken many initiatives to improve our efforts against financial crime, but unfortunately, we have not succeeded in fully adapting to the new local legislations in Norway. Following a recent compliance process with the Norwegian Financial Services Authorities, we are working at a wide range of new measures and have dedicated significant resources to address all concerns,” says Trond Mellingsæter, Country Manager of the Norwegian branch. 

The Norwegian Financial Services Authorities, FSA, has conducted a review of the anti-money laundering, AML, operations at the Norwegian branch of Danske Bank. The summary of the final report is published today, and Danske Bank has in parallel with the FSA work planned and implemented 35 specific measures, covering the initial FSA findings, whereof 21 have been closed.

Additional actions are under implementation. Some of the most important processes include the finalization of proper identification for the customer base and new internal structures.

“The strict measures we are implementing will impact a number of customers, both businesses and private customers, as disclosure requirements and documentation demands will increase. We hope for understanding for these rigorous actions, as Danske Bank are doing our outmost to ensure current and future compliance with local regulations. We will of course do our best to make it as easy as possible for the customers to provide us with the needed data and documentation” Mellingsæter states.

Danske Bank in Norway has several hundred employees working on the anti-money laundering operation and is implementing the program of new measures, including:

• Enhanced efforts to gather valid identification and updated Know Your Customer information for all customers.
• Strengthening the local organization for improved governance and compliance with local legislation, including new anti-money laundering management in Norway.
• Large investments have been made to enhance the framework related to risk assessment, scoring model, transaction monitoring and other tasks formally managed by Danske Bank´s global organization.
  

“We have already increased our efforts and have been implementing new structures and measures in parallel with the FSA process. The findings in the FSA report will mean we will strengthen our procedures even more, and we have deployed significant resources to operationalise the full scope of measures. The dedication to this important matter and the support from the rest of the organisation make us sure that we are building a strong anti-money laundering operation for the future,” concludes Bent Richard Eidem, the new Head of AML in Norway. 

For further information, please contact: 
Stian Arnesen, Head of Communications, +47 970 12 350