Deutsche Bank hit with $150m fine for compliance lapses with Jeffrey Epstein

New York's Department of Financial Services said the lender, which had processed hundreds of transactions for Epstein, had committed "significant compliance failures".

"Whether or to what extent those payments or that cash was used by Mr Epstein to cover up old crimes, to facilitate new ones, or for some other purpose are questions that must be left to the criminal authorities, but the fact that they were suspicious should have been obvious to bank personnel at various levels," the regulator said.

Deutsche Bank responded, saying: "We acknowledge our error of onboarding Epstein in 2013 and the weaknesses in our processes, and have learnt from our mistakes and shortcomings.

"Our reputation is our most valuable asset and we deeply regret our association with Epstein."

In the settlement, the regulator also referenced Deutsche's failure to monitor transactions with lenders Danske Estonia and FBME Bank adequately, even though it knew that both might be engaged in money-laundering.