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There's usually so much shit going on with EU banks that I try not to blame banks based only on unconfirmed press reports / rumors, but the latest developments on #Swedbank are so OMFG that I just can't help it! (Quick thread)
Ofc you remember how #Danske was hammered because of ALM in the Baltics, the CEO resigned etc. Ever since the Danske story broke in full speed there were fears of similar situation at nordic banks.
A week ago, a similar AML story broke on Swedbank and the stock crashed. I joked about the poor performance of the management on the investor call ("we checked and had no common clients with Danske". "That is, we checked 7 clients" 🤣)
Since then, it's been basically a royal flush of shitstorm for them :
1 - they hired E&Y to do some investigations on AML in the baltics... only to fire them a few days later because of conflicts of interest and because E&Y seems to be on investigation themselves. Ok - that sounds so good.
2 - DI reported the former Chief Compliance Officer (Mrs Strangert) was fired because she clashed with current Swed CEO Bonnesen ovver ALM process in the baltics. Reportedly Bonnesen was pissed because she herself was in charge of the region at the time of shortcomings...
(Could it be that Bonnesen stellar rise at Swed was due to fantastic performance in the Baltics, itself driven by...well you know what...)
3 - Getting better : SVT reported that ex-Ukraine boss Yanukovych used a Swed Baltic account to transfer money out of Ukraine in 2011 ($4m...) How on earth can that not raise a GIGANTIC red flag ??? Seriously ???? When I see all the admin nightmare that comes with being a PEP...
4- But really the absolute TOP story is this: reportedly (Dagens Nyheter) the bank told its 15 largest shareholders about the SVT broadcast on AML... two days ahead !! And now the bank says it was not insider information 🤣🤣 This is one for @matt_levine
Of course, it wasn't inside information. I mean, there is NO way you can spot the day of the broadcast on the chart below. Or maybe you can ? How smart of you. 
So I guess all i'm saying is "fasten your seat belt, it's going to be a bumpy ride".
