Banks, Crime, Estonia, Financial Services, Legislation

Those invited to the sitting that will discuss the responsibility of the Danske money laundering case include Minister of Justice Urmas Reinsalu, Prosecutor General Lavly Perling, director of the Central Criminal Police Aivar Alavere, head of the Financial Intelligence Unit of the Police and Border Guard Board Madis Reimand, a representative of the penal law and procedure division of the Ministry of Justice's criminal policy department, a representative of the public order and criminal policy department of the Ministry of the Interior, a representative of the Ministry of Finance, and chairman of the management board of the Financial Supervision Authority Kilvar Kessler.

Chairman of the committee Jaanus Karilaid said that he had convened the sitting in order to find out why nobody had taken the responsibility for the case of money laundering through the Estonian branch of Danske Bank. "We would like to get answers from the supervisory agency and the investigative bodies on how this criminal deception could be carried out through Estonia for such a long time, and if the authorities have done everything they can to investigate it," Karilaid added.

Karilaid said that it is also necessary to discuss how to avoid such extensive criminal schemes in the future.

Deputy chairman of the committee Uno Kaskpeit said that the money laundering scheme is a very regrettable case that damages Estonia's reputation and interests. "I think that different agencies share the responsibility here," he said. "We have to achieve clarity on the reasons why the laundering of billions of euros could take place for a long time, so that it never again be possible."

Danske Bank's Estonian operations may have been used to launder as much as seven billion euros from 2007 to 2015, which is more than twice as much as initially believed. The case is being investigated by Danske Bank itself, the High Court of Paris and the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority.

William Browder, chief executive of investment fund Hermitage Capital Management and former employer of Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, is also asking for a criminal investigation to be launched against 26 employees of the Estonian branch of Danske Bank who allegedly enabled the laundering of billions of dollars of dirty money through the bank.