Secret letter to the Swedish banks after Panama leak – Swedish Dagbladet

photo: Mel Evans / AP Screenshot

New York’s financial authority Department of financial Services, DFS, is investigating 13 major international banks and their dealings with the law firm Mossack Fonseca. SvD Business has previously revealed that four of the banks under investigation are Swedish Nordea, SEB, Handelsbanken and Swedbank.

Now, SvD exclusive publishing authority DFS’s list of demands on the banks of the investigation.

on 19 april the authority , a large amount of information from banks that received 10 days in which to respond. The answer would be received by Friday, April 29, a week ago.

DFS wrote in a letter to that banks should identify:

• All types of communication that the bank had with the law firm Mossack Fonseca or any of the firm’s partners or employees.

• All types meetings, particularly to personal, video or audio conferencing, as occurred with Mossack Fonseca or any partner.

• All transactions of the Bank which has Mossack Fonseca to do and having their origin or in any way involving the bank’s New York branch.

• All types of connections between any employee of the Bank’s organization, or partners, and Mossack Fonseca.

the US Agency DFS has made a broad specification which shows that all types subsidiaries or partners should be included.

DFS also want to take part of their own investigations concerning Mossack Fonseca or companies created with the help of Mossack Fonseca. The Agency says that it also applies to partners and third parties.

But it is not with it. Authority of New York also want to take note of all the material that banks provide to other agencies.

“Give us a copy of all documents that the bank has provided, or will provide, to the authorities in the US or other on other places in the world, “writes DFS.

– It amazes me that the Swedish banks have received so much attention in the United States. But it may be that it becomes ‘guilt by association’. Nordea has a prominent place in Panama Hank and the three other major Swedish banks caught up, said attorney Peter Utterström which is one of the leading experts on US-corruption legislation.

If it is found that any bank violated the tax laws can be hefty fines wait. It can get even worse if the banks in any way been helpful for shady individuals doing business in countries such as the United States has sanctions against.

– As the banks have got a huge problem. The risk of violating anti-terror law or sanction laws, says Peter Utterström.

SvD Business during the day sought the major Swedish banks to see if they responded to the Agency’s request.

– We do not comment our contacts with various authorities, according to Nordea.

Handelsbanken says that the bank submitted a reply on 29 april.

– Because Handelsbanken offers no such type of tax advice as it seems to be about in the so-called Panama documents so the questions were quite done quickly, says Johan Wallqvist, press manager at Handelsbanken.

Handelsbanken, according to data from journalists total of 576 times in the great material with documents that have been leaked from law firm Mossack Fonseca in Panama. There are considerably fewer than Nordea, which had over 10,000 hits. It is also much more than an SEB had only 47 hits. Since then, it has been revealed that SEB had a subsidiary in Luxembourg, LMW, which 15 years worked with tax optimization.

SEB and Swedbank says to SvD Business Bank has answered the questions of American DFS.

the fact that the Swedish banks selected by the DFS is partly because they are active in New York, according to Richard Loconte, spokesperson on finance authority.

– these are banks that we found through our research and mentioned in the media as possibly involved in the case Mossack Fonseca. There are also banks that we regulate as they have operations in New York, he said.

Have you had time to go through the banks’ response?

– We are middle of the process to book meetings with them.

– We asked questions to the banks in April and received a response. How long this will take next depends on each of the banks, we work individually with them, said Richard Loconte.

In April, reported the news agency Bloomberg that a federal prosecutor in New York also launched an investigation into banks’ any dealings with Mossack Fonseca. The Prosecutor’s Office should have notified the banks that such utrening is running, but the other correspondence that passed between the banks and the prosecution are unclear. A spokesman said “no comment” when SvD Business asked questions about the investigation in April.

In the DFS is said not to have any cooperation with åklaragmyndigheten about the investigation.

– No, I know not what they do, us and them is different authorities. What you have read is what we also know, says Richard Loconte.