US Fines Deutsche Bank $16 Million Over Corruption Charges

• US Fines Deutsche Bank $16 Million Over Corruption Charges

Deutsche Bank has accepted to pay a fine of over $16 million for violating US laws by hiring relatives of foreign government officials in a bid to win or retain business deals.

According to the US Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), the bank targeted business deals by hiring unqualified relations of government administrators in Asia and Russia at their request as a means of influencing these deals, hereby violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of the United States.

A breakdown of the $16 million fine shows disgorgement amounts to $10.8 million, interest $2.4 million and $3 million is fine for a civil penalty.

As reported by Reuters, SEC discovered that within a period of not less than eight years; 2006 and 2014, the bank had employed these unqualified individuals with the sole aim of producing deals or businesses such as initial public offering for the bank.

SEC further unraveled the shady procedures of the company in a number of successful business deals.

Reuters reported that; “The SEC also found that Deutsche employees created false books and records that concealed corrupt practices and failed to accurately document and record certain related expenses, violating internal accounting rules.”

SEC also said that after Deutsche Bank was alerted about the discovery, it did not admit or deny the findings.

In a statement emailed to Reuters, Deutsche bank spokesman said, “Deutsche Bank provided substantial cooperation to the SEC in its enquiry and has implemented numerous remedial measures to improve the bank’s hiring practices.”

Deutsche Bank AG is a German Multinational Investment bank and financial services company with its headquarters in Frankfurt, Germany. The bank is operational in 58 countries with a large presence in Europe, America, and Asia. In April 2018, the Bank was the 15th largest bank in the world going by its total asset.

However, this is not the first time the bank would be fazed by a scandal.