Post by anenro on Aug 23, 2019 14:59:19 GMT 4
Deutsche Bank to Pay $16.2 Million in `Princeling’ Bribery Case
Deutsche Bank AG will pay $16.2 million to settle a U.S. regulator’s allegations that it hired relatives of overseas government officials to win business, making it the latest firm ensnared in a scandal that rocked Wall Street and sparked years-long investigations.
The hiring, which lasted from at least 2006 through 2014 in the Asia Pacific-region and Russia, violated U.S. laws including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Securities and Exchange Commission said in a Thursday order. The Frankfurt-based bank agreed to settle the case without admitting or denying wrongdoing, the SEC said.
Deutsche Bank employees created false books and records that concealed corrupt hiring practices, according to the SEC. Individuals who were offered jobs typically bypassed the bank’s highly competitive and merit-based process, which required that they have high grades in school and went through multiple rounds of interviews. One Russian hire who worked in London performed so badly that a human resources employee deemed him “a liability to the reputation of the program, if not their firm,” the SEC said.
Deutsche Bank, which didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, agreed to pay a $3 million fine and more than $13 million disgorgement and interest. The amount Deutsche Bank is paying reflects its level of cooperation, the SEC said.
Deutsche Bank AG will pay $16.2 million to settle a U.S. regulator’s allegations that it hired relatives of overseas government officials to win business, making it the latest firm ensnared in a scandal that rocked Wall Street and sparked years-long investigations.
The hiring, which lasted from at least 2006 through 2014 in the Asia Pacific-region and Russia, violated U.S. laws including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the Securities and Exchange Commission said in a Thursday order. The Frankfurt-based bank agreed to settle the case without admitting or denying wrongdoing, the SEC said.
Deutsche Bank employees created false books and records that concealed corrupt hiring practices, according to the SEC. Individuals who were offered jobs typically bypassed the bank’s highly competitive and merit-based process, which required that they have high grades in school and went through multiple rounds of interviews. One Russian hire who worked in London performed so badly that a human resources employee deemed him “a liability to the reputation of the program, if not their firm,” the SEC said.
Deutsche Bank, which didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment, agreed to pay a $3 million fine and more than $13 million disgorgement and interest. The amount Deutsche Bank is paying reflects its level of cooperation, the SEC said.