Nordea blocks over a thousand private accounts in money laundering clamp down
Nordea bank has blocked 1,300 private accounts, containing more than NOK 100 million as part of the bank’s anti-money laundering effort.
The background to the account closures was that the customers hadn’t responded satisfactorily to Nordea’s questions to the customer’s relationship to the bank based on criteria contained in the Money Laundering Act, reported Dagens Næringsliv newspaper.
Additionally, before the summer, Nordea closed 25,000 private accounts, containing NOK 99 million. Some of those accounts have been opened again.
A few customers have swapped banks to store their money where the same questions aren’t asked. Now, 1,300 accounts, containing over NOK 100 million have been blocked.
John Sætre, head of Nordea’s banking business in Norway, said that only a small percentage of those who’ve had accounts blocked are directly suspected of money laundering or terrorist financing.
‘The customers haven’t responded to our questions, or they haven’t provided us with the information we have requested,’said Sætre.
The Money Laundering Act requires the financial industry to prevent money laundering in its banks.
© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today
