Denmark has accused Scandinavian bank Nordea of laundering 3.5 billion euros for Russian clients, the country's financial prosecutors said.
"Nordea did not adequately investigate the transactions of the bank's Russian customers and ignored warnings about currency transactions in Copenhagen," Denmark's National Special Crimes Unit said in a statement, AFP reported.
The alleged money laundering took place between 2012 and 2015.
Nordea, which is based in Helsinki, said it expects to pay the fine and has set aside money for provisions in 2019.
"We are disappointed that this case has been taken to court," Nordea's general counsel Anders Holkman Olsen said in a statement. "Nordea has repeatedly acknowledged that there were gaps in our systems and processes to combat financial crime at the time."
The bank said it had spent 11 billion kroner ($1.6 billion) since 2015 on preventing financial crime.
No trial date has been set. | BGNES
