Deutsche Bank shares hit record lows as German bank dragged into money laundering scandal

Shares in Deutsche Bank hit record lows today after the German bank confirmed it was involved in the Danske Bank money-laundering scandal.

Danske whistleblower Howard Wilkinson had claimed on Monday that a major European lender was involved in processing up to $150bn (£117bn) in suspicious payments.

The former head of Danske Bank’s trading unit in the Baltics between 2007 and 2014 – made the claims to a Danish parliamentary hearing, which is looking into payments totalling €200bn (£178bn) that were made through the lender’s Estonian branch.

A Deutsche Bank spokesperson, in a statement to Reuters, said: “Our role was to process payments for Danske Bank. We terminated the relationship in 2015 after identifying suspicious activity.”

Shares in the German bank fell 4.8 per cent to all-time lows of 8.15p and have now fallen 48 per cent so far this year.

Wilkinson, who is British, also implicated two US banks and the Department for Justice has asked Bank of America and JP Morgan about their involvement.

The scandal over Danske has exploded globally, with inquiries underway in Denmark, Estonia, the UK and the US. The Danish lender has acknowledged its branch in Tallinn moved nearly a quarter of a trillion dollars – much of it from potentially illegal activity – out of Russia and into the global banking system. Danske’s chair and chief executive have both been ousted as part of the fallout.