Deutsche Bank asks for
more time for U.S. query on Trump, Russia: source
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[June 05, 2017]
By Tom Sims
FRANKFURT
(Reuters) - Germany's largest bank has asked for more time to respond to
a request from Democrats on a U.S. House of Representatives panel for
details about U.S. President Donald Trump's possible ties to Russia, a
person familiar with the matter said on Monday.
Deutsche Bank's <DBKGn.DE> external counsel sent a letter dated Friday
June 2 to the Democrats saying it needed additional time, the source
told Reuters. The person spoke on condition of anonymity and declined to
specify how much more time the bank's counsel needed.
Several Democrats on the U.S. House Financial Services Committee sent a
letter last month to John Cryan, chief executive officer of Deutsche
Bank, seeking details that might show if Trump's loans for his real
estate business were backed by the Russian government.
The letter asked for details of internal reviews of Trump's transactions
and gave the German bank until Friday to respond.
Deutsche Bank has declined to comment about any business dealings with
Trump.
The Republican president is mired in controversy over FBI and
congressional probes into alleged Russian meddling in the 2016 U.S.
presidential election and potential collusion between Moscow and the
Trump campaign. Moscow has denied the allegations, and Trump has denied
any collusion.

Maxine Waters, Democrat representative for California and a member of
the committee, was one of the original letter's five signatories. She
confirmed through a staff member on Monday that Deutsche did not provide
"substantive responses to our requests".
"Congress remains in the dark on whether loans Deutsche Bank made to
President Trump were guaranteed by the Russian government, or were in
any way connected to Russia," the Democrats wrote in their request to
Deutsche Bank.
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A combination of file photos showing Russian President Vladimir
Putin at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia,
January 15, 2016 and U.S. President Donald Trump posing for a photo
in New York City, U.S., May 17, 2016. REUTERS/Ivan Sekretarev/Pool/Lucas
Jackson/File Photos

"It is
critical that you provide this committee with the information necessary to
assess the scope, findings and conclusions of your internal reviews," they said.
The
Democrats cannot compel Deutsche Bank to hand over the information. The House
committee has the power to subpoena the documents, but Republican committee
members - who make up the majority of the panel - would have to cooperate.
No Republicans have signed the document request.
The congressional inquiry is also seeking information about a Russian "mirror
trading" scheme that allowed $10 billion to flow out of Russia.
In January, Deutsche Bank agreed to pay $630 million in fines for organizing the
scheme that could have been used to launder money out of Russia.
The trades involved, for example, buying Russian stocks in roubles for a client
and selling the identical value of a security for U.S. dollars for a related
customer.
(Reporting by Tom Sims; Editing by Rachel Armstrong and Mark Potter)
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