US expands Deutsche Bank probe to include possible sanctions violations

An investigation into possible money laundering activities by Deutsche Bank was expanded to include possible sanctions violations, the first such instance against a Wall Street firm.

The transactions in question allegedly involved US dollars and an American citizen.

That triggered the expansion of the probe by the US Department of Justice and New York’s Department of Financial Services, according to people familiar with the case cited by the Financial Times.

In 2014 Washington and Brussels imposed sanctions on many individuals with links to Moscow in reaction to Russia's annexation of Crimea.

US authorities were scrutinising so-called ‘mirror’ trades, in which Russian clients purchased securities in roubles through the lender’s Moscow office and then sold identical ones for foreign currency, including greenbacks, through the London office.

Some of Deutsche Bank’s Russian clients, such as Arkady and Boris Rotenberg, were associates of Russian president Vladimir Putin.

As of 10:42 shares in Deutsche Bank were down by 2.35% to $27.24.