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The
U.S. Justice Department and New York State's Department of
Financial Services (DFS) are increasing the scope of their
investigation into the bank because a few transactions allegedly
involved U.S. dollars and a former banker who is a U.S. citizen,
the newspaper reported on Sunday.
The regulatory investigation involving trades worth $6 billon
would be one of the first by the U.S. authorities regarding a
potential breach of Western sanctions against Russia after its
2014 annexation of Crimea, the business daily said.
Citing sources, Reuters reported in July that the DFS has asked
the bank for detailed information on possible money-laundering
transactions by some clients in Russia that could exceed a total
of $6 billion.
The investigation focuses on so-called "mirror trades," which
could allow the movement of funds from one country to another
without passing through normal procedures for cross-border money
transfers, the paper reported.
Tim Wiswell, an ex-Deutsche Bank trader, lost his job earlier
this year amid an investigation by European and U.S. regulators
into "mirror trades."
Wiswell sued the bank in October for wrongful dismissal.
U.S. authorities are now examining whether his alleged
involvement reflected a broader scheme that had been approved by
bank executives, the newspaper said.
The bank, which launched an internal investigation into Russian
securities trades in June, is also being examined to see if it
had compliance programs ready for Russian sanctions and provided
accurate information to regulators, the newspaper said.
"Deutsche Bank has taken disciplinary measures with regards to
certain individuals in this matter and will continue to do so
with respect to others, as warranted," the FT quoted the bank
saying.
The bank's Russian clients subject to U.S. sanctions include
brothers Arkady and Boris Rotenberg, who are close associates of
Russian president Vladimir Putin, the FT reported.
The Justice Department and DFS could not be reached for comments
outside regular business hours.
Reuters could not reach Deutsche Bank and Tim Wiswell
immediately.
(Reporting by Rishika Sadam in Bengaluru; Editing by Jeffrey
Benkoe)
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