On the basis of i.a. articles in today’s edition of the daily newspaper Information, the Danish FSA states the following:
On April 17, The European Banking Authority (EBA) published its long-awaited conclusion to the investigation conducted by the EBA of the Danish FSA and the Estonian FSA (Finantsinspektioon) in relation to the money laundering case concerning the Estonian branch of Danske Bank. The conclusion in the EBA's announcement was that the EBA's Board of Supervisors had rejected a draft by the EBA Secretariat, claiming a breach of Union law. Thus, the draft by the EBA Secretariat has not documented a breach of Union law.
According to EU rules, the EBA's Board of Supervisors, consisting of representatives of national supervisory authorities, decides whether a breach of Union law has occurred.
Furthermore, in a letter to the European Commission dated 26 April, the EBA described the EBA’s Board of Supervisors' deliberation on the case. The letter concludes that the EBA’s Board of Supervisors rejected conclusively the draft recommendation.
Thus, it is not new that a draft from the EBA Secretariat existed, and that there were consultation responses from Denmark and Estonia. The EBA's Board of Supervisors rejected the case on the basis of the documentation included in the consultation responses, and which had not been sufficiently taken into account in the draft by the EBA Secretariat. The fact that the rejected draft has now been leaked to the news media does not change the EBA's final conclusion that there has been no breach of Union law.
In the letter to the European Commission, the EBA points out that, in hindsight, supervision could have been handled differently. As mentioned on previous occasions, the Danish FSA agrees, and the Danish FSA is determined to learn from the case, based on the framework of the recent political agreement in Denmark.
Regarding the vote on the EBA’s Board of Supervisors, it can be stated that the vote in relation to the case was in line with the EBA's rules, including rules on conflict of interest. The EBA has not officially revealed details of the vote, but as it has surfaced in some media, the rejection of the case was very clear, and neither Denmark’s or Estonia's vote was decisive in the EBA's Board of Supervisors’ rejection of the case.
Background
On 24 September 2018, the Danish FSA announced that the EBA was initiating an investigation of the Danish FSA in relation to European rules on i.a. AML supervision. The investigation was initiated following a request from the European Commission. On February 18 2019, the Danish FSA stated that the EBA was continuing the investigation. On April 17 2019, the EBA announced that the EBA's Board of Supervisors had rejected a breach of Union law by Denmark.