US investigators approach Deutsche Bank, BofA, JPM in Danish probe: Bloomberg

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – Criminal investigators from the United States have requested information from Deutsche Bank, Bank by America and JPMorgan about transactions they handle for Danske Bank's estab lish branch, which is in the midst of a money laundering scandal, Bloomberg reported on Friday with sources.

Danske Bank said last month that it met an American criminal investigation of as much as 200 billion euros ($ 230 billion) of suspicious transactions on its Estonian border between 2007 and 201[ads1]5. The scandal has shaken investor confidence into Denmark's largest lender and forced his general manager and head to quit.

The Bloomberg report said there was no sign that Deutsche Bank ( DBKGn.DE ), Bank of America ( BAC.N ) and JPMorgan ( JPM. N ), which were correspondent banks for Danish's Estonian branch, were themselves the target of the survey.

It was said that the investigation of the three banks facilitated Estonia's transactions was part of the wider investigation of Danish members of the US Justice Department and prosecutors of the American law firm in Manhattan.

The Securities and Exchange Commission and the US Treasury Department also investigate the transactions of Danske Bank through the global banks, Bloomberg says.

Deutsche Bank, Bank of America and JPMorgan refused to comment when asked about the Bloomberg report from Reuters.

JPMorgan ceased to clear dollar transactions out of the Danish Estonian border in 2013 due to money laundering, Bloomberg says. Deutsche and Bank of America stopped in 2015, said it.

Danske Bank, who refused to comment on the report, is also facing criminal investigations in Denmark and Estonia.