SEB to pay $33 million over weak anti-money laundering controls in Baltic units

Swedish bank SEB, which operates in Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, will pay $33 million to settle an investigation by the New York State Department of Financial Services. The regulator examined how the bank's Baltic units carried out customer due diligence and transaction monitoring between 2015 and 2019, as part of efforts to prevent the laundering of illegally obtained funds. The agreement closes the matter for that period in the United States.

What the regulator found

Between 2015 and 2019, SEB's Baltic operations had deficiencies in customer documentation. The department also concluded that calculations of money laundering risk were incorrect and that measures to reduce those risks were insufficient.

At the same time, the regulator notes that SEB cooperated during the investigation and has already taken steps to fix the shortcomings.

US Department of Justice

The US Department of Justice has also reviewed SEB's activities. It has completed that review and decided to take no action. As a result, the US examination of the bank's earlier measures to prevent the legalisation of illicit funds has concluded.

About the bank

SEB operates in Sweden and the Baltic states, where it offers a broad range of financial services. In Denmark, the United Kingdom, Norway, Finland and Germany, the group focuses on corporate and investment banking services.