2020-03-19
Comment by Jekaterina Govina, Director of the Supervision Service of the Bank of Lithuania, on the completed investigation of Swedbank activities
The Bank of Lithuania has no evidence that Lithuania’s Swedbank was involved in large-scale money laundering transactions. The Lithuanian branch of Swedbank has been extremely conservative in its approach to higher-risk customers and non-residents. Therefore, as can be seen from the investigation results, Lithuania stands out for its particularly low number of risky operations.
The Bank of Lithuania has drawn very clear and strict lines in terms of money laundering: the business model of Lithuania’s Swedbank has been monitored on a regular basis, its AML/CTF measures have been examined separately, while the efficiency of the measures implemented by the bank after the inspection has been closely observed. The entire Baltic region will be affected by the adverse impact of the control gaps identified in the parent bank established in Sweden, as only a few will take into account country specifics when analysing money laundering risks threatening the entire region.
Therefore, we must strengthen our cooperation with foreign supervisory authorities and focus on creating a regional financial market resilient to money laundering risks. In this respect, we will take every possible step within our mandate.