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A “brief” history of Deutsche Bank scandals, lawsuits & fines. This list is not comprehensive and is stacked with events from the past 20 years, yet it shows a deeply ingrained culture of generating profits with no regard for their customers or the integrity of the market.
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After WW2, Allied authorities determined that Deutsche Bank had actively supported the Nazi regime and maintained close ties to officials like Himmler; and was also been involved in appropriating assets of financial institutions in countries occupied by the Nazis.
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The Allied forces in occupied Germany divided the bank into 10 regional institutions, and then into 3. One each for the north, central, and southern regions of West Germany. The operations were reunited in 1957 and allowed to function under the Deutsche Bank name once again.
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1960’s
The bank sets out to rebuild its retail business and international operations which were dismantled after the war. Expanding its investments in a range of German companies and establishing seats on supervisory boards of some of the biggest names in German industry.
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1980’s
In 1984 Deutsche Bank purchases a 4.9% interest in the British securities firm Morgan Grenfell and then purchases the remainder of the firm in 1989. This was part of the banks pursuit of a goal to become a global investment firm and a Europe-wide universal bank.
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4/17/1990
Following the collapse of Communism, Deutsche Bank forms a joint venture with Deutsche Kreditbank (which four decades earlier had expropriated many Deutsche Bank operations). Giving DB access to 150 branches and 9,500 employees in East Germany.
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7/1/1994
Several Deutsche Bank execs & managers are ousted after an auditor’s report found the bank was careless in lending $750 million to the giant Jurgen Schneider real estate group. The group collapsed amid reports of accounting irregularities.
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independent.co.uk/news/business/…
2/22/1995
Unearthed documents from East Germany provide new evidence of the ways Deutsche Bank helped the Nazis expropriate Jewish businesses. The bank later expresses regret when a report indicated it had engaged in gold transactions with the Nazi regime.
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5/20/1998
Deutsche Bank’s Morgan Grenfell unit is fined £2 million by London's IMRO, and repaid £200 million to investors, after Peter Young overestimated the value of investment funds which were not traded on any market and of uncertain value.
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apnews.com/ab8b7c65afbc8f…
6/16/1998
300 German criminal investigators raid the Deutsche Bank headquarters in Frankfurt looking for evidence that the bank was helping wealthy customers engage in tax evasion.
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nytimes.com/1998/06/16/bus…
11/30/1998
Deutsche Bank announces plans to acquire New York-based Bankers Trust. At the time both banks were testing the limits of what a commercial bank could legally do; which in the end brought charges of deceptive investment sales practices.
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wsj.com/articles/SB912…
One of Bankers Trust major institutional customers, Proctor & Gamble, brought a racketeering suit in 1995 that accused Bankers Trust of engaging in fraudulent practices in its derivatives business. The bank settled the case for around $200 million.
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independent.co.uk/news/business/…
Shortly after Deutsche Bank acquisition is announced, Bankers Trust pleads guilty to criminal charges that its employees diverted $19 million in unclaimed checks, and other credits owed, over to the bank’s own books to enhance its financial results.
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nytimes.com/1999/03/12/nyr…
3/12/1999
Bankers Trust pays a $60 million dollar fine to the US federal government and an additional $3.5 million to New York state authorities. One executive later pleaded guilty to a related criminal charge.
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wsj.com/articles/SB921…
12/3/2002
The SEC, NYSE and NASD (now known as FINRA) fined Deutsche Bank Securities $1.65 million for failing to adhere to requirements relating to the preservation of e-mail archives which could be consulted in enforcement actions.
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finra.org/newsroom/2002/…
8/19/2003
SEC fines Deutsche Bank $750,000 for violating conflict of interest rules by not disclosing its role in advising Hewlett-Packard on acquisition of Compaq while its asset management arm was voting its clients’ proxies in favor of the deal.
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sec.gov/news/press/200…
3/18/2004
Britain’s Financial Services Authority fines Deutsche Bank’s Morgan Grenfell unit £190,000 for violating rules related to blind bid basket trading and management of conflicts of interest in April 2002.
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fca.org.uk/publication/fi…
5/18/2004
NASD fines Deutsche Bank $5.29 million for taking excessive commissions in the allocation of shares of IPO’s and later that year fines the bank $5 million for corporate high-yield bond trading violations.
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marketwatch.com/story/nasd-fin…
6/22/2004
Investors, alleging they had been misled, sue Deutsche Bank in US Federal Court after purchasing what turned out to be abusive tax shelters. The dispute was later settled for an undisclosed amount.
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nytimes.com/2004/06/22/bus…
8/26/2004
SEC announces that Deutsche Bank will pay a total of $87.5 million to settle charges of conflicts of interest between its investment banking & research operations; and failing to promptly produce all e-mails relating to the investigation.
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sec.gov/news/press/200…
10/14/2005
The US Federal Reserve and NY State Banking Department announce that Deutsche Bank has agreed to take steps to improve its policies designed to prevent money laundering by customers.
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federalreserve.gov/boarddocs/pres…
4/10/2006
The Financial Services Authority fines Deutsche Bank £6.3 million for “failing to observe proper standards of market conduct” in transactions involving shares of Scania (a Swedish truck manufacturer) and Cytos Biotechnology.
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fca.org.uk/publication/fi…
11/25/2006
Deutsche Bank chief executive Josef Ackermann personally pays €3.2 million to settle criminal charges that he and other directors of Mannesmann (a German telecommunications company) had awarded excessive bonuses to Mannesmann execs.
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independent.co.uk/news/business/…
12/22/2006
Deutsche Bank agrees to pay $208 million to end investigations by NY-AG Eliot Spitzer and federal regulators into improper mutual fund trading and charges of market timing violations. Part of the money is a $20 million fine to the SEC.
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nytimes.com/2006/12/22/bus…
12/19/2007
Deutsche Bank agrees to pay $25 million (and give up $416 million in unsecured claims) to settle litigation related to its dealing with bankrupt energy trader Enron Corporation. The bank denies any wrongdoing in the demise of Enron.
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reuters.com/article/sppage…
9/11/2008
US Senate Permanent Subcommittee of Investigations releases extensive documentation of Deutsche Bank’s role in tax avoidance. The bank used swaps and stock loans to enable its non-US clients to dodge payments of taxes on US stock dividends.
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wsj.com/public/resourc…
6/3/2009
The SEC announces that Deutsche Bank will provide $1.3 billion in liquidity to investors the SEC alleges were misled by the bank about risks associated with auction rate securities, before the market for those securities froze in Feb 2008.
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sec.gov/news/press/200…
7/21/2009
It's revealed Deutsche Bank has used a private detective to spy on activist investors and some people inside the bank. Several executives were fired amid the scandal and authorities in the German state of Hesse consider criminal charges.
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dw.com/en/state-prose…
7/21/2010
FINRA fines Deutsche Bank Securities $575,000 for violating rules relating to short sales and then another $7.5 million for “negligently misrepresenting delinquency data” in connection with subprime mortgage securities.
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finra.org/newsroom/2010/…
12/15/2010
Britain’s Financial Services Authority fined Deutsche Bank’s DB Mortgages unit £840,000 for “irresponsible lending practices and unfair treatment of customers in arrears.” The FSA also secured redress of approx £1.5 million for customers.
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fca.org.uk/publication/fi…
12/21/2010
The US Attorney for SDNY announces that Deutsche Bank will pay $553.6 million and admit criminal wrongdoing to resolve charges that it participated in fraudulent tax shelters and generated billions of dollars in US tax losses.
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money.cnn.com/2010/12/21/new…
3/22/2011
German appeals court rules Deutsche Bank must compensate a small-business customer €541,074 for losses incurred resulting from an interest-rate swap. The court concludes the bank had a “grave conflict of interest” in its dealings.
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theguardian.com/business/2011/…
9/2/2011
The Federal Housing Finance Agency sues Deutsche Bank and other firms for abuses in the sale of mortgage-backed securities to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The case is settled in late 2013 for $1.9 billion.
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forbes.com/sites/afonteve…
11/14/2011
Deutsche Bank agrees to pay $145 million to the National Credit Union Administration to settle claims tied to the sale of mortgage-backed securities to 5 credit unions. Marking the first fed recovery of losses from soured mortgage bonds.
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wsj.com/articles/SB100…
5/10/2012
US Attorney for the SDNY announces that Deutsche Bank will pay $202.3 million to settle charges that its MortgageIT unit had repeatedly made false certifications to the FHA about the quality of mortgages to qualify them for FHA insurance.
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justice.gov/archive/usao/n…
12/12/2012
Deutsche Bank’s offices are raided by German prosecutors probing the bank’s role in a tax evasion scheme involving the trading of carbon permits. 25 employees are suspected of tax evasion, money laundering and obstruction of justice.
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bbc.com/news/business-…
1/22/2013
Deutsche Bank agrees to pay a $1.5 million fine to the US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to settle charges that it had manipulated energy markets in California in 2010 to benefit its financial position.
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ferc.gov/media/news-rel…
3/13/2013
Massachusetts fines Deutsche Bank $17.5 million for failing to inform investors of conflicts of interest during creation and marketing of $10 billion worth of collateralized debt obligations.
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reuters.com/article/us-mas…
12/4/2013
Deutsche Bank is fined €725 million by the European Commission for LIBOR interest rate manipulation. The bank also agrees to invest €1.35 billion to “elevate its systems and controls to best in class.”
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cnbc.com/2013/12/04/deu…
2/20/2014
Deutsche Bank agrees to pay €775 million to settle a longstanding lawsuit in which the bank had been accused of contributing to the collapse of the Kirch media group in Germany.
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dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/02/20/deu…
7/22/2014
The US Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations accuses Deutsche Bank and Barclays of helping hedge funds use dubious financial products to avoid paying more than $6 billion in taxes.
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hsgac.senate.gov/download/repor…
8/28/2014
Britain’s Financial Conduit Authority fines Deutsche Bank £4.7 million for incorrectly reporting equity swap CFD (contracts for difference) transactions between November 2007 and April 2013.
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fca.org.uk/news/press-rel…
12/8/2014
US federal prosecutors sue alleging that Deutsche Bank fraudulently used shell companies to evade taxes on transactions in 2000. The suit claims the bank owes the federal government $190 million in taxes, penalties and interest.
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reuters.com/article/us-deu…
12/11/2014
FINRA fines Deutsche Bank Securities $4 million as part of a case against 10 investment banks for allowing their stock analysts to solicit business & other favorable research coverage in connection with a planned IPO of Toys R Us in 2010.
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finra.org/newsroom/2014/…
12/22/2014
US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) orders Deutsche Bank to pay $3 million to settle charges for failing to properly invest customer segregated funds, failure to file accurate reports and maintain required books and records.
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cftc.gov/PressRoom/Pres…
4/23/2015
The US CFTC fines Deutsche Bank $800 million for routinely engaging in acts of false reporting and manipulating the LIBOR and EURIBOR benchmark interest rates, as well as aiding and abetting traders at other banks to manipulate these rates.
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cftc.gov/PressRoom/Pres…
4/23/2015
The US Dept of Justice assesses Deutsche Bank and its subsidiary DB Group Services Ltd $775 million in criminal penalties for manipulating the US dollar LIBOR rate and engaging in a price-fixing conspiracy to rig the Yen TIBOR rate.
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justice.gov/opa/pr/deutsch…
4/23/2015
UK Financial Conduct Authority fines Deutsche Bank €227 million for LIBOR and EURIBOR rate manipulation. The largest fine ever levied by the regulatory authority, due to the seriousness of the crime and the bank misleading the FCA.
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fca.org.uk/news/press-rel…
4/23/2015
NY Dept of Financial Services orders Deutsche Bank to pay a civil monetary penalty of $600 million for LIBOR, EURIBOR and TIBOR interest rate manipulation and also fire seven employees involved in the scheme who still work for the bank.
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dfs.ny.gov/about/ea/ea150…
5/26/2015
The SEC announces that Deutsche Bank will pay $55 million to settle allegations that it overstated the value of its derivatives portfolio and filed misstated financial reports during the height of the financial meltdown.
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sec.gov/news/pressrele…
6/8/2015
Deutsche Bank co-CEO’s Anshu Jain and Jurgen Fitschen unexpectedly resign, reportedly under pressure from BaFin regulators unhappy with how they handled the investigation into manipulation of benchmark interest rates by bank employees.
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nytimes.com/2015/06/09/bus…
9/30/2015
The US CFTC fines Deutsche Bank $2.5 million for failing to properly report its swaps transactions from January 2013 to July 2015, and not addressing and correcting the errors until the bank was notified of an investigation.
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cftc.gov/PressRoom/Pres…
11/5/2015
Investigation of Deutsche Bank’s sanction violations results in payments of $200 million to NY State regulators and $58 million to the Federal Reserve. The bank executed transactions on behalf of Iran, Libya, Syria, Burma and Sudan.
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nasdaq.com/article/deutsc…
11/24/2015
US Dept of Justice announces that Deutsche Bank Suisse will pay a penalty of $31 million to resolve potential criminal liabilities for tax-related offenses in connection with undeclared US-related accounts.
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justice.gov/opa/pr/justice…
10/12/2016
The SEC announces that Deutsche bank agrees to pay a $9.5 million penalty for failing to properly safeguard nonpublic information from its research analysts and failing to preserve and provide e-mails during the agency's investigation.
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sec.gov/news/pressrele…
12/16/2016
The SEC & NYAG announce that Deutsche Bank will pay $37 million to settle charges that it misled clients about the performance of an analysis feature of its automated order router, known as SuperX+, used for client orders to dark pools.
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sec.gov/news/pressrele…
1/4/2017
The US Attorney for the SDNY announces a settlement of $95 million to resolve a civil suit against Deutsche Bank for a series of fraudulent transactions carried out to evade tens of millions of dollars in federal taxes.
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justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/m…
1/17/2017
Deutsche Bank reachs a $7.2 billion settlement with the US Dept of Justice to resolve federal civil claims involving the bank misleading investors in the sale of toxic residential mortgage-backed securities during the financial crisis.
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justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/d…
1/30/2017
Deutsche Bank is fined $425 million by NY Dept of Financial Services and required to hire an independent monitor to settle allegations it helped Russian investors launder as much as $10 billion through its branches in Moscow, NY and London.
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dfs.ny.gov/about/press/pr…
1/30/2017
Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority fines Deutsche Bank £163 million for failure to maintain an adequate anti-money laundering control framework between January 2012 and December 2015, dealing with money transfers originating in Russia.
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fca.org.uk/news/press-rel…
2/13/2017
RBK reports Russian tax authorities are seeking millions in lost tax revenues from Deutsche Bank after irregularities in currency swaps in 2013 and 2014. Authorities say the bank owed Russia $10 billion from currency transaction deals.
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dw.com/en/russian-tax…
4/20/2017
The US Federal Reserve fines Deutsche Bank $136.9 million for unsafe practices in foreign exchange markets, as well as $19.7 million for failing to maintain an adequate Volcker rule compliance program before March 2016.
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federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pre…
5/26/2017
The US Federal Reserve fines Deutsche Bank $41 million for deficiencies of its anti-money laundering systems to manage and monitor suspicious transactions that were processed by the bank for its affiliates in Europe between 2011 and 2015.
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federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pre…
1/29/2018
The CFTC orders Deutsche Bank to pay a civil monetary penalty of $30 million for engaging in a scheme to manipulate the price of precious metals futures contracts traded on COMEX between February 2008 and September 2014.
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cftc.gov/PressRoom/Pres…
2/1/2018
The CFTC orders Deutsche Bank to pay a $70 million civil monetary penalty for attempted manipulation of the ISDAFIX (a worldwide reference rate value for fixed interest rate swap rates and was renamed “ICE Swap Rate” in April 2015).
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cftc.gov/PressRoom/Pres…
2/12/2018
Deutsche Bank agrees to a $750,000 penalty and to repay $3.7 million to customers following a SEC investigation that bank employees made false and misleading statements while negotiating sales of commercial mortgage-backed securities.
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sec.gov/news/press-rel…
7/20/2018
The SEC announces that Deutsche Bank will pay $73.2 million to settle charges of improper handling of “pre-released” American Depository Receipts (ADRs), allowing them to be used for short selling and profiting around dividend payouts.
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sec.gov/news/press-rel…
9/21/2018
BaFin orders Deutsche Bank to "take appropriate internal safeguards and comply with general due diligence obligations," and assigns audit firm KPMG (for a 3-year period) to help the lender fulfill regulatory requirements.
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bafin.de/SharedDocs/Ver…
11/29/2018
Deutsche Bank offices in Frankfurt are raided by nearly 170 LEA's with the German Federal police. Prosecutors suspect the bank helped 900 customers setup offshore shell companies in tax havens to "transfer money from criminal activities."
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dw.com/en/german-poli…
12/7/2018
BaFin imposes a €1.1 million against Deutsche Bank when it failed to submit notifications regarding voting rights within the prescribed period.
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bafin.de/SharedDocs/Ver…
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