BaFin Imposes $10M Fine on Deutsche Bank for Euribor Control Failing

Deutsche Bank faces challenges as BaFin imposes a 10-million dollar fine for Euribor control failure.

On December 29, 2021, the German financial regulator, BaFin (The Federal Financial Supervisory Authority) imposed a $10-million fine on Deutsche Bank for having an incompetent internal control system for data submission that helped to set a European interest rate benchmark.

“Deutsche Bank at the time didn’t have in place effective preventive systems, controls, and policies to ensure the integrity and reliability of all contributions of input data to the administrator,” BaFin stated.

According to the sources, the shortcomings identified by the financial watchdog were related to Euribor submission in the 2019-2020 time period. Deutsche Bank in return said, there is no indication of submitting any incorrect data, and that it is adopting methods to enhance the controls. However, the bank stated it would not stand against the penalty which was EUR 8.66 million equivalent to $10 million.

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Germany’s financial regulator BaFin said on Wednesday that it fined @DeutscheBank 8.66 million euros ($9.78 million) for lapses in controls relating to the Euro Interbank Offered Rate (#EURIBOR). pic.twitter.com/9KdNlD53lJ

— CGTN Global Business (@CGTNGlobalBiz) December 29, 2021

“It remains a top priority for us to identify and address potential weaknesses in our control process,” a Deutsche Bank representative said. The fine reminds of the incidents of Germany’s largest bank by assets. 

Last decade, Deutsche Bank paid $3.5 billion to settle allegations by UK, US, and European authorities that the bank had exploited Euribor and other global interest rate benchmarks. It is considered the biggest fine for rate-rigging and has since paved the way to enhance its culture and control systems to prevent regulatory fines. 

According to the Wall Street Journal, the whistleblower who assisted UK and US financial watchdogs in the investigation at Deutsche Bank was rewarded with over $200 million.

A series of such Journal articles in 2008 also raised multiple questions about the global banks that were exploiting the interest-rate-setting by lowballing to avoid looking desperate for cash amid the financial crisis. Various traders and brokers were identified in investigations that were involved in this fraud scheme for many years. Like other banks, Deutsche Bank was also accused of backing employees to manipulate the rate settings to gain financial benefits.

Suggested Read: BaFin Demands Deutsche Bank to Tighten its AML Controls