Danske Bank appoints interim chief exec after boss is ousted following €200bn money laundering scandal
Danske Bank has appointed an interim chief exec after former boss Thomas Borgen left the firm following news of a €200bn (£177.8bn) money laundering scandal.
Borgen announced his resignation last month, after an internal inquiry found that €200bn of payments, many of which Danske said were suspicious, had passed through its Estonian branch over an eight-year period.
Its head of Danish banking Jesper Nielsen was today appointed interim chief exec, but Danske said he was not in the mix to take the top job on permanently.
"We are of the opinion that, with the situation the bank is in, it is best that the executive director is also part of the bank’s future," Danske chairman Ole Andersen told Reuters.
Read more: Danske Bank head quits after giant money laundering scandal
Danish analysts and media have speculated the head of its Wealth Management unit Jacob Aarup-Andersen is a likely candidate to be appointed as chief exec – though some believe the 40-year-old is too inexperienced to lead Denmark's largest bank.
Other names which are in the mix include the boss od Danish mortgage lender Nykredit, Michael Rasmussen, Morgan Stanley's head of European Fixed Income and Commodities Jakob Horder, and the former chief exec of Swedish bank SEB Annika Falkengren.
The bank’s chief counsel, Flemming Pristed, has also decided to leave, saying he wanted to try “something new” after five years in the role.
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