Banks, EU – Baltic States, Financial Services, Legislation, USA

The investigations appear to include alleged fraud, as well as money laundering, the Swedish newspaper said, citing unnamed sources.

The Swedish Ministry of Justice received a formal request for legal aid from the US Department of Justice this summer due to the money laundering investigation in that country, the newspaper said.

The three banks didn’t immediately respond to calls seeking comment. Sweden’s Financial Supervisory Authority also didn’t respond to efforts to obtain a response.

Danske has previously said it’s being investigated in the US and Europe after admitting that a large part of about EUR 200 billion euros in non-resident flows through an Estonian unit were suspicious.

Swedbank has also said it’s being probed in the US, after its Baltic unit was allegedly used for transferring suspicious transactions. It was fined in Sweden earlier this year for its anti-money laundering breaches.

SEB is being investigated by Sweden’s regulator regarding allegations against the bank that it handled suspicious transactions via its Baltic operations.