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Abstract: 

This article discusses the recent plea agreement between the United States and Danske Bank. It argues that the Department of Justice has advanced a new and evolving theory of liability for foreign banks that access the U.S. financial system through correspondent banking relationships. This theory of liability has expansive extraterritorial reach because such foreign banks provide extensive representations about their anti-money laundering and sanctions compliance programs at account opening and on an ongoing basis. If those representations are deemed false, they could be the basis of criminal liability if supported by other elements of bank fraud — even if the foreign bank has no subsidiary, branch, or other presence in the United States.

Keywords: Sampo Bank; Danske Bank Estonia; Executive Compensation and Compliance

Affiliations:  1: WilmerHale; 2: WilmerHale.