Short-lived Reformers
In that 2017 order, regulators sounded optimistic that the bank was finally cracking down on money laundering, saying it attempted “genuine reform” in 2016. By then, Susan Skerritt had become CEO of Deutsche Bank Trust Co. Americas as the bank implemented a global campaign aimed at preventing financial crime and known internally as “Get Sharp.”
Training sessions were held. Posters adorned the walls. The new CEO spoke publicly about the lender’s willingness to end perilous correspondent banking relationships. Skerritt, who didn’t respond to requests for comment, left in early 2018.
The bank has had trouble retaining its reformers elsewhere too. One executive hired to combat financial crime globally left after just six months. Another left to work at Danske.
Deutsche’s most attention-getting U.S. addition was Richard Weber, a veteran federal prosecutor and former chief of the Internal Revenue Service’s criminal investigations. Weber, who declined to comment, was part of a team that prosecuted HSBC Holdings Plc in an unprecedented 2012 money-laundering and sanctions case. Deutsche trumpeted his 2016 hire as demonstrating its “commitment to fighting financial crime.”
The bank gave investors a frank warning about the importance of that fight in its annual report last month. Failure to fix its money-laundering protections quickly would mean its “financial condition and reputation could be materially and adversely affected,” the bank said. Weber might have been just the person to help. But he quit three months ago.
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.