In November 2019, more than 30.000 documents from the Icelandic fisheries group Samherji were published on Wikileaks.
During extensive media coverage, Samherji was accused of corruption, money laundering and tax evasion. As per now, Samherji is subject to ongoing investigations by the police in Iceland and Namibia.
DNB has highlighted the following comments in our dialogue with media and other stakeholders:
- Based on what has emerged in the media, we cannot rule out that DNB's services have been misused. It is up to the police in Iceland and Namibia to investigate whether Samherji or persons connected to this company has performed any illegal actions.
- DNB is subject to regulations to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. We have welcomed the investigation initiated by the Norwegian National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime (ØKOKRIM).
- The purpose of the investigation is to understand if DNB has complied with current and former anti money laundering regulations. The investigation has been now transferred to the Oslo State Attorney for reasons of impartiality in ØKOKRIM. It is still ongoing, and DNB are cooperating with the police in this type of matters.
- It is important to note, DNB has not in any ways been accused of money laundering or corruption.
- DNB is prohibited by law to disclose whether we have reported any transactions to the FIU in a specific case. Overall, DNB submitted 1 828 cases to The Norwegian FIU in 2019, involving more than 4 800 customer relationships and millions of transactions.
- DNB work systematically to prevent DNB's products and services from being used for criminal activity, and DNB aims to be the most trusted player when it comes to delivering banking services in a modern, digital economy.
- It is an important part of our systematic approach to gain lessons learned from specific cases and use this knowledge to improve our routines and systems.
