Prosecutors are close to a settlement with Dutch bank ABN Amro over allegations it failed to report or probe suspicious transactions by its clients for years, the FD newspaper said on Wednesday, citing sources close to the talks.

ABN and prosecutors could not immediately be reached to comment on the report. ABN, which has been under investigation since September 2019, previously said it was cooperating but would not comment during the investigation.

ABN has not taken a provision for a settlement, but analysts expect the investigation to lead to a settlement with a fine of hundreds of millions of euros.

Larger rival ING was hit with a $900 million fine for similar charges in 2018. Prosecutors are still weighing whether to bring charges against former ING Chief Executive Ralph Hamers, who now leads UBS, over the 2018 case.

Wednesday’s FD report said prosecutors were considering whether to expand the ABN probe to include any former ABN managers, such as Gerrit Zalm, who is the bank’s former CEO and a former finance minister of the Netherlands.

By Toby Sterling, Reuters, 20 January 2021

Read more at Reuters

RiskScreen: Tackling Financial Crime with Smart Technology