(AFP Photo)
Reuters – The regulator of Dubai’s tax-free financial centre said on Sunday that Deutsche Bank had been found to be in “material non-compliance” with orders to provide information as part of an investigation into alleged rule breaches.
The Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) had in November last year sued the lender, after almost one year of investigations into the bank’s wealth management division.
An out-of-court agreement between the bank and the Dubai regulator was struck whereby Deutsche Bank will provide the requested documents within 28 days, as well as cover the legal costs of the DFSA, according to a statement from the regulator.
The material non-compliance was declared by the court which covers the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), home to many large global banks and asset management who were attracted by the region’s oil wealth and rapid economic growth.
Deutsche Bank declined to comment.
Germany’s biggest bank has been embroiled in a number of scandals, with a jump in litigation costs partly responsible for the surprise fourth-quarter loss it reported last month.
The investigations include cases related to the sub-prime crisis and the manipulation of Libor interest rates. Co-Chief Executive Anshu Jain has said that it would take much of 2014 to work through the bulk of its legal issues.
No fine was handed down as part of its agreement with the Dubai regulator.
Court documents filed in the DIFC Courts on 31 October 2013 showed Deutsche Bank was being investigated over potential breaches of due diligence and assessing clients for money-laundering risks.
The DFSA had sent a first notice to the German bank in July last year asking for information on wealth management client names, account opening dates, details of relationship managers and the level of due diligence performed by the bank, the court documents showed.
