From Paul O’Donoghue at AMLi
Our Thursday newsletter is typically about the latest updates on tech in the sector but today we are first leaning back into the alleged reason for searches at two offices of Deutsche Bank in a major money laundering investigation by Frankfurt prosecutors.
It now appears that late-to-file SARs could be at the centre of Wednesday’s extraordinary raid by German Federal Police on Deutsche Bank’s headquarters in Frankfurt and a branch in Berlin.
AML Intelligence has learned the investigation relates to transactions involving Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich carried out between 2013 and 2018. Prosecutors in Frankfurt are examining whether Deutsche was “too slow to file one or more suspicious activity reports relating to companies linked to Abramovich,” a source told AMLi.
Late-to-file SARs is a pretty big deal – in Germany particularly given recent stances taken by the supervisor. Remember just last November BaFin imposed a record €45 million fine on Frankfurt-based JP Morgan for this very reason.
What has also made the investigation all the more extraordinary is prosecutors in a statement said they were investigating as-yet unnamed persons and bank employees. The reference to bank staff has caught the attention of AFC professionals across the EU.
Moreover, the statement said the identities of any executives and employees involved- in potential wrongdoing were not yet known.
Raids were also carried out by German Federal Police of a site in Berlin. Deutsche Bank said it was co-operating fully with the public prosecutor’s office but declined to comment further, including on any link to Abramovich.
The oligarch’s lawyer they were not aware of any investigations by German authorities in this matter, adding that Abramovich had “always acted in accordance with applicable national and international laws and regulations” and “any assertion to the contrary is false and damaging to his reputation, and our client reserves all rights”.
We have seen a number of cases in the past where banks have faced heavy fines for late SARS – particularly in Germany.
Meanwhile today Deutsche posted its largest annual profit since 2007 after a stronger-than-expected fourth quarter.. Germany’s largest lender recorded net profit attributable to shareholders of €6.12 billion for 2025, helped by strength at its global investment bank.
That is above €2.7 billion a year earlier and slightly ahead of analyst expectations of nearly €6 billion.
Keep up to date on the latest developments on the Deutsche Bank case by checking in regularly to the AML Intelligence homepage.
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SCREENING: U.S banks are facing delays and high false positives in compliance screening, driven by manual reviews and weak system integration, according to a new study.
In a survey by LSEG Risk Intelligence, eight in ten US financial institutions said onboarding or payment delays occur at least occasionally. Almost a third said delays happen often.
STABLECOINS could pull around $500 billion in deposits out of U.S. banks by the end of 2028, Standard Chartered has estimated.
The new analysis that could intensify a fight between banks and crypto companies over legislation to set rules for the digital asset sector.
Regional U.S. banks would be most exposed to a loss in deposits due to stablecoins, said Geoff Kendrick, global head of digital assets research at Standard Chartered.
The analysis was based on lenders’ net interest margin income – the difference between what a bank earns on loans and what it pays out on deposits.
“U.S. banks … face a threat as payment networks and other core banking activities shift to stablecoins,” Kendrick said in the research note.
U.S. President Donald Trump last year signed into law a bill creating a federal regulatory framework for stablecoins, which is widely expected to lead to greater general use of the dollar-pegged tokens.
GEMINI: The U.S. SEC has agreed to dismiss its enforcement case against a crypto exchange founded by billionaire twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss.
The SEC and the exchange now known as Gemini Space Station filed a joint stipulation to dismiss the case, citing the complete return of crypto assets to investors through the Genesis Global Capital bankruptcy process.
LAUNDERING: Money launderers received at least $82 billion in crypto last year, up sharply from $10 billion in 2020, blockchain researchers have found.
The fastest-growing category has been Chinese-language money-laundering networks, which emerged during the pandemic and processed almost $40 million worth of crypto per day in 2025, according to the analysis.
UK BITCOIN CASE: Finally, a ‘professional money launderer’ must repay more than £5.6 million after laundering millions linked to the UK’s biggest ever Bitcoin seizure.
Seng Hok Ling was sentenced to four years and 11 months in prison in the UK. He pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering.
The main defendant, Zhimin Qian (also known as Yadi Zhang), 47, a Chinese national, received 11 years and eight months in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of money laundering on the same day.
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Have a great Thursday 👋
Stephen and the team at AMlintelligence.