SVT has revealed that the Swedish banking giant Swedbank's top management withheld information on suspect customers and transactions from US investigators.

On several occasions, in 2016 and 2018, Swedbank was urged by the financial authority DFS to disclose all contacts their customers had with the notorious law firm Mossack Fonseca, whose customers are linked to many criminal activities, including money laundering.

Swedbank CEO Birgitte Bonnesen disputed the information when confronted with it:

– It sounds incredibly strange that we would somehow have the intention to conceal things. It is not at all in line with the way we work, how we have usually worked for all these years, she told SVT.

Sources: Investigation opened

However, according to SVT’s sources, the DFS has opened an investigation into Swedbank. This process was initiated after February 20th, when SVT first revealed that the Swedish bank might be involved in money laundering.

SVT has been given access to the contents of a letter from the DFS to Swedbank. The letter is dated February 20, 2019 and is addressed to John Matthews, General Manager of Swedbank’s New York office.

The first part of the letter is regarding Mossack Fonseca. The DFS emphasizes that their previous inquiries concerned the global operations of the bank:

“We requested that you provide certain information, stating clearly that this request concerned the global operations of Swedbank.”

“This response may be incomplete”

The contents of the letter from the DFS confirm information that SVT published earlier today, that Swedbank withheld information about all the bank's customers in the Baltic countries with connections to Mossack Fonseca.

The DFS writes:

”… It appears that this response may be incomplete, as it does not appear to apply to the ‘global operations of Swedbank’, and instead excludes responsive information relating to parents, subsidiaries or other affiliates of Swedbank.”

The DFS now investigates more than just the connections to Mossack Fonseca.

According to the request, the DFS demands that Swedbank submit extensive documentation regarding business relations with Danske Bank. This involves transactions, customer information and notifications made to authorities, as well as all possible external and internal investigations that in some way may affect Danske Bank.

Swedbank has also been requested to provide equally extensive information on their business relations with three other banks that all have been involved in large-scale money laundering scandals: Ukio Bankas, ABLV and FBME.

Swedbank replies

The DFS has requested information on several persons and businesses that SVT previously have reported on. Among them Iskander Makhmudov and former Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych. The letter is signed by the head of the DFS, who writes:

“Please provide a full and complete response to the request…”

Swedbank has been presented with the information about the DFS investigation, and replies:

“Swedbank is restricted by applicable law to comment on the existence or content of any confidential communication with the New York State Department of Financial Services. Swedbank cooperates fully and communicates clearly, correctly and with good intent with all relevant authorities.”

The Republican senator Roger Wicker earlier said to SVT that he is seriously concerned about the actions of Swedbank:

– Here in the United States, if you lie to authorities, that’s a felony. So I would view it as very serious, said Roger Wicker.

The full report ”Swedbank and the Americans” is available in english on SVT Play.