Danske Bank’s money laundering scandal stands as one of the most significant and far-reaching financial crimes in recent European history. Between 2007 and 2018, the bank’s Estonian branch facilitated over €200 billion in suspicious transactions, predominantly involving shell companies and illicit funds from various countries. Despite early warnings from whistleblowers and internal audits, Danske Bank failed to implement adequate anti-money laundering controls, exposing systemic governance and compliance weaknesses. The scandal not only led to severe legal consequences, including a guilty plea in the U.S. and multi-billion-dollar fines, but also highlighted critical vulnerabilities in the global correspondent banking system and the urgent need for stronger financial crime risk management.
Danske Bank, Denmark’s largest bank, was at the center of one of the largest and most complex money laundering scandals in recent European financial history. Through its Estonian branch, it allowed more than €200 billion in suspicious transactions between 2007 and 2018, involving sophisticated laundering mechanisms such as shell layering and misuse of correspondent banking systems. Despite internal warnings, managerial and governance failures enabled prolonged illegal activity. The scandal prompted global investigations culminating in a guilty plea to conspiracy to commit bank fraud in the U.S. and multi-billion-dollar fines, the largest ever levied against a Danish bank. Danske Bank has since undertaken major compliance reforms and exited higher-risk jurisdictions, but the case remains a cautionary tale about governance failures and AML compliance in international banking.
