As of: October 8th, 2021 2:32 p.m.
The financial supervisory authority BaFin has suspected the Frankfurt-based subsidiary of the Russian VTB Bank of not taking sufficient care against money laundering – and has appointed a special officer.
The financial supervisory authority BaFin has targeted the local branch of the Russian VTB Bank and called on it to take more decisive action against money laundering and terrorist financing. “On October 1st, 2021, BaFin ordered VTB Bank (Europe) SE to implement appropriate internal security measures to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing,” announced the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) today.
The authority has appointed a special representative at the institute “with immediate effect” to monitor the measures ordered. Its purpose is to check whether the bank is taking appropriate internal security measures and to continuously report to BaFin on the progress of implementation. Initially, no statement was available from the financial institution.
New BaFin boss announces tough pace
VTB Bank (Europe) SE has its headquarters in Frankfurt / Main and belongs to the second largest Russian banking group. This is majority owned by the Russian state and is one of the 100 largest banks in the world in terms of capital. In the German market, the institute focused on business customers for a long time; since 2011 it has also been offering financial products to private investors via the online bank VTB Direktbank. In addition, the institute sees itself as the leading bank for European-Russian trade relations.
At the same time, the new BaFin Cef Mark Branson has announced a tougher course in the supervision of financial groups. “BaFin must have the courage to make unpleasant decisions, even if we do not have perfect information and if this involves certain risks,” Branson told the “Handelsblatt”. It is often even more risky for customers and for the stability of the financial system not to make a decision or to wait.
Intervene more actively
The former head of the Swiss supervisory authority FinMa started his new job at the Bonn authority in August. Branson’s predecessor Felix Hufeld stumbled upon the fraudulent schemes at the payment provider Wirecard. The new Bafin boss is not only more energetic, he has also been given more powers to carry out his control tasks. Federal Finance Minister Olaf Scholz (SPD) had announced a realignment of the authority and a strengthening of the office of President after Hufeld’s dismissal.
Branson wants BaFin to intervene even more actively in the event of grievances under his leadership. “We need the willingness to test limits,” he told the newspaper. “If there is a grievance, we have to do something, even if this issue is not clearly regulated in the law.”