Deutsche Bank fined $16m over US corruption charges
Deutsche Bank settled for more than $16m with US authorities yesterday amid charges it had hired the relatives of foreign officials to win business.
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said that it had fined the bank for hiring poorly qualified people just to get close to their decision-making relatives.
Under the settlement’s terms Deutsche did not admit any wrongdoing over the charges.
“Deutsche Bank provided substantial cooperation to the SEC in its inquiry and has implemented numerous remedial measures to improve the bank’s hiring practices,” a spokesperson told Reuters last night.
The SEC said the German bank has taken steps to ensure this does not happen again.
The regulator said that Deutsche had hired the staff between 2006 and 2014 with the “primary goal” of getting business from their relatives at state-owned businesses. The work included initial public offerings.
It also accused Deutsche of keeping false books and records to cover up its dodgy hiring.