The move is seen as a step by the new boss to bolster confidence in the embattled banking group.

Former Danske Bank interim chief executive, Jesper Nielsen, has been fired from his current position as head of banking for Denmark after clients were overcharged for an investment product. The move is seen as a step by the new boss to bolster confidence in the embattled banking group.

“Jesper Nielsen has made significant contributions to the bank throughout many years, most recently as Interim CEO, for which we thank him. But, in the specific matter, he was at the time one of the responsible executive board members who did not to a sufficient degree ensure that the Flexinvest Fri product was suitable for the bank’s customers. Therefore, we find that Jesper cannot continue in his position,” Karsten Dybvad, chairman of Danske Bank’s board of directors, said in a statement yesterday. 

Until a replacement is found, Glenn Söderholm, a member of the executive board and in charge of the banking activities in Norway, Sweden and Finland, will also take responsibility for the banking activities in Denmark, it said. 

Nielsen’s firing is embarrassing for a bank which has sought to recover from an anti-money laundering saga that has spread to parts of Europe, denting Denmark’s clean compliance image. Nielsen was interim CEO from last October after the former chief executive, Thomas Borgen, resigned as details emerged of the AML claims and investigation.

The present CEO is Chris Vogelzang, who took over a few weeks ago. 

Danske will compensate around 87,000 customers who invested in the Flexinvest Fri product for a total of around DKr400 million ($61 million), according to Reuters. The fees for the product were raised in connection with the implementation of the MiFID II financial industry regulation in 2017, the newswire said.