At the end of last week, Saxo Bank was served with a number of injunctions by Finanstilsynet (the Danish FSA) following a series of investigations that were launched during 2009 and 2010, to examine the bank’s commitment to investor protection and its anti-money laundering protocols.
During September and November 2009, the Danish FSA visited Saxo Bank headquarters under section 34 of the law of prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing and then again in March, April and May 2010.
By June 2 2010, the Danish FSA submitted a report to Saxo, saying (translated from Danish): "It is Finanstilsynet’s assessment that Saxo Bank’s business model and the scope of its business constitute a high risk for the bank to be misused for money laundering or financing of terrorism.
"Furthermore, it is Finanstilsynet’s assessment that Saxo Bank’s procedures with regard to minimising the risk for money laundering and financing of terrorism is insufficient, and that the bank has broken, and at the time of the investigation continued to break, certain rules relating to money laundering law.”
The Danish FSA says that it sampled corporate customers for evidence and can show that before May 2009, Saxo failed to gather sufficient details and indentification of prospective customers.