The Danish bank is drawing a line under a turbulent period of AML investigation by hiring a new head of risk.

Following a difficult few years under a money laundering investigation tied to the Baltics, Danske Bank has appointed Magnus Agustsson as its new chief risk officer, replacing Carsten Egeriis who took over as CEO in April.

Agustsson, who will become part of Danske’s executive leadership team, will take up the post no later than December  2021. In the interim, risk responsibility at the Danish bank will be managed by George Anagnostopoulos.

Danske's former chief executive, Chris Vogelzang, who took over in 2019 from a predecessor who was forced out amid the money laundering scandal, was also forced to step down this year after being named as a suspect in a probe by Dutch authorities dating back to Vogelzang's time at the Dutch state bank ABN AMRO.

In a statement, Vogelzang said that he was "very surprised" by the decision. "I left ABN AMRO more than four years ago and am comfortable with the fact that I managed my management responsibilities with integrity and dedication." He qualified the decision by stating that being named as a suspect, did not imply that he would be charged.

Nevertheless, it has caused another C-suite reshuffle for Danske and a reminder of the intense scrutiny which banks are under in relation to anti-money laundering, the consequences of which can mark an executive's reputation for years.

As Danske's new head of risk, Icelandic national Agustsson (pictured) comes from a series of similar roles at Swedish corporate banking and financial services group SEB, most recently as chief risk officer. Before that, he served in risk-associated roles with financial firms in Germany and Finland.

“He brings a thorough understanding of each of the Nordic markets and a broad familiarity with our core markets,” Egeriis said, who also thanked Anagnostopoulos for stepping in during the transition period.