The bank, which has been embroiled in a money laundering case in the Baltic states, has posted disappointing financial results for the first quarter of 2018.

Pre-tax profits at Danske Bank’s wealth management unit fell 35 per cent to DKK878 million ($143 million) in the first quarter due to turbulent markets and asset outflows, the Danish lender said yesterday.

Profit before tax was down over a third from DKK1,350 in December, or 18 per cent from DKK1,070 logged for the same period of last year. 

“The financial performance was influenced by uncertainty in the financial markets, causing a lower investment result from the health and accident business and slightly lower assets under management,” Danske Bank said.

Danske Bank in recent months has found itself at the epicentre of a money laundering scandal at its Estonian branch, drawing criticism from its shareholders and executive board. Estonia’s financial watchdog in February said it would open an investigation into the lender after media reports claimed it had been aware of money laundering allegations at its Estonian business as far back as 2013. 


Source: Google

The bank’s wealth arm saw its assets under management figure sink just over 1 per cent since December to DKK1.5 billion.

The unit said net fee income was also down at DKK1.7 billion, compared with DKK2.1 billion logged for the final quarter of last year.

The number of full-time staff swelled, however, to 1,898 as the wealth arm hired 47 new employees over the past three months. 

Danske Bank Wealth Management’s cost/income ratio, expressed as a percentage, jumped to 54.1 per cent from 45.5 per cent recorded in December.