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Danske Bank Money Laundering Scandal
The Danske Bank money laundering scandal arose in 2017–2018, when it became known that around €800 billion of suspicious transactions had flowed from Estonian, Russian, Latvian and other sources through the Estonia-based bank branch of Denmark-based Danske Bank from 2007 to 2015. It has been described as possibly the largest money laundering scandal ever in Europe, and as possibly the largest in world history. It includes incoming funds from Estonia (23%), Russia (23%), Latvia (12%), Cyprus (9%), the UK (4%) and others (30%, more than 150 countries each of which account for a smaller part than the UK). Outgoing funds were distributed between Estonia (15%), Latvia (14%), China (7%), Switzerland (6%), Turkey (6%) and others (52%) Financial supervision Danske Bank, headquartered in Copenhagen, is the largest bank in Denmark. The bank's local branch in Estonia, which was acquired by Danske Bank as part of a merger with Finnish Sampo Bank in 2007, was used for the activiti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Baltica
Baltica is a paleocontinent that formed in the Paleoproterozoic and now constitutes northwestern Eurasia, or Europe north of the Trans-European Suture Zone and west of the Ural Mountains. The thick core of Baltica, the East European Craton, is more than three billion years old and formed part of the Rodinia supercontinent at 1 . Tectonic history Baltica formed at 2.0–1.7 Ga by the collision of three Archaean-Proterozoic continental blocks: Fennoscandia (including the exposed Baltic Shield), Sarmatia ( Ukrainian Shield and Voronezh Massif), and Volgo-Uralia (covered by younger deposits). Sarmatia and Volgo-Uralia formed a proto-craton (sometimes called "Proto-Baltica") at c. 2.0 Ga which collided with Fennoscandia c. 1.8–1.7 Ga. The sutures between these three blocks were reactivated during the Mesoproterozoic and Neoproterozoic. Between 750 and 600 million years ago, Baltica and Laurentia rotated clockwise together and drifted away from the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Latvia
Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to the southeast, and shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Sweden to the west. Latvia covers an area of , with a population of 1.9million. The country has a Temperate climate, temperate seasonal climate. Its capital and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city is Riga. Latvians, who are the titular nation and comprise 65.5% of the country's population, belong to the ethnolinguistic group of the Balts and speak Latvian language, Latvian. Russians in Latvia, Russians are the most prominent minority in the country, at almost a quarter of the population; 37.7% of the population speak Russian language, Russian as their native tongue. After centuries of State of the Teutonic Order, Teutonic, Swedish Livonia, Swedish, Inflanty Voi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cyprus
Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of islands in the Mediterranean, third largest and third most populous island in the Mediterranean, after Sicily and Sardinia. It is located southeast of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and Lebanon, northwest of Israel and Palestine, and north of Egypt. Its capital and largest city is Nicosia. Cyprus hosts the British Overseas Territories, British military bases Akrotiri and Dhekelia, whilst the northeast portion of the island is ''de facto'' governed by the self-declared Northern Cyprus, Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is separated from the Republic of Cyprus by the United Nations Buffer Zone in Cyprus, United Nations Buffer Zone. Cyprus was first settled by hunter-gatherers around 13,000 years ago, with farming communities em ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shell Companies
A shell corporation is a company or corporation with no significant assets or operations often formed to obtain financing before beginning business. Shell companies were primarily vehicles for lawfully hiding the identity of their beneficial owners, and this is still the defining feature of shell companies due to the loopholes in the global corporate transparency initiatives. It may hold passive investments or be the registered owner of assets, such as intellectual property, or ships. Shell companies may be registered to the address of a company that provides a service setting up shell companies, and which may act as the agent for receipt of legal correspondence (such as an accountant or lawyer). The company may serve as a vehicle for business transactions without itself having any significant assets or operations. Shell companies are used for legitimate purposes but can be used for tax evasion, tax avoidance, money laundering, to dodge current or future lawsuits or to achie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Howard Wilkinson (whistleblower)
Howard Stephen Jeremy Wilkinson (born 3 April 1971) is a British whistleblower whose actions helped to illuminate the 2018 Danske Bank money laundering scandal. Wilkinson's disclosure was part of reporting that was published in 2018 that stated from 2007 to 2014, a Danske Bank branch located in Estonia had been involved in the suspected laundering of up to $235 billion U.S. dollars. Danske Bank disclosure While working at an Estonian Danske Bank branch, Wilkinson brought attention to a suspected breach of anti-money laundering procedures in the branch by writing four reports to the internal audit unit and management of the bank in Copenhagen in 2013 and 2014. The bank did not respond to these allegations until 2018, when Wilkinson's name was released by an anonymous source to the Estonian newspaper Eesti Ekspress without his consent, which according to Wilkinson, violated his whistleblower protection rights. In November 2018, Wilkinson appeared before the European Parliament Spec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Federal Security Service
The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation �СБ, ФСБ России (FSB) is the principal security agency of Russia and the main successor agency to the Soviet Union's KGB; its immediate predecessor was the Federal Counterintelligence Service (FSK), which was reorganized into the FSB in 1995. The three major structural successor components of the former KGB that remain administratively independent of the FSB are the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), the Federal Protective Service (FSO), and the Main Directorate of Special Programs of the President of the Russian Federation (GUSP). The primary responsibilities are within the country and include counter-intelligence, internal and border security, counterterrorism, surveillance and investigating some other types of serious crimes and federal law violations. It is headquartered in Lubyanka Square, Moscow's center, in the main building of the former KGB. The director of the FSB is appointed by and direct ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Igor Putin
Igor Alexandrovich Putin ( rus, Игорь Александрович Путин, p=ˈiɡərʲ ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ ˈputʲɪn; born 30 March 1953) is a Russian businessman and politician, former vice president of Master Bank. He is a first cousin of the Russian President, Vladimir Putin. He is the Chairman of Igor Putin Fund, an investment company supporting and developing the industry in outlying regions of Russia. Early life and education Igor Putin was born in Leningrad to the family of a Soviet military officer Alexander Putin, a younger brother of Vladimir Putin senior, father of the Russian President. Soon the family moved to Kovrov and then to Ryazan, where Alexander Putin served as an instructor in Ryazan Guards Higher Airborne Command School. Igor Putin graduated from Ryazan Guards Higher Airborne Command School in 1974. Career In 1974–1998, Igor Putin served in the Soviet Army and then in Russian Army. In 1998, he retired from the military and moved to Ryaz ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Russia from 1999 to 2000 and again from 2008 to 2012. He is the longest-serving Russian president since the independence of Russia from the Soviet Union. Putin worked as a KGB foreign intelligence officer for 16 years, rising to the rank of Lieutenant colonel (Eastern Europe), lieutenant colonel. He resigned in 1991 to begin a political career in Saint Petersburg. In 1996, he moved to Moscow to join the administration of President Boris Yeltsin. He briefly served as the director of the Federal Security Service (FSB) and then as Secretary of the Security Council of Russia, secretary of the Security Council of Russia before Putin's rise to power, being appointed prime minister in August 1999. Following Yeltsin's resignation, Putin became Actin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tallinn
Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and administratively lies in the Harju County, Harju ''Counties of Estonia, maakond'' (county). Tallinn is the main governmental, financial, industrial, and cultural centre of Estonia. It is located northwest of the country's second largest city, Tartu, however, only south of Helsinki, Finland; it is also west of Saint Petersburg, Russia, north of Riga, Latvia, and east of Stockholm, Sweden. From the 13th century until the first half of the 20th century, Tallinn was known in most of the world by variants of its other historical Names of Tallinn in different languages, name Reval. “Reval” received Lübeck law, Lübeck city rights in 1248; however, the earliest evidence of human settlement in the area dates back nearly 5,000 years. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Whistleblower
Whistleblowing (also whistle-blowing or whistle blowing) is the activity of a person, often an employee, revealing information about activity within a private or public organization that is deemed illegal, immoral, illicit, unsafe, unethical or fraudulent. Whistleblowers can use a variety of internal or external channels to communicate information or allegations. Over 83% of whistleblowers report internally to a supervisor, human resources, compliance, or a neutral third party within the company, hoping that the company will address and correct the issues. A whistleblower can also bring allegations to light by communicating with external entities, such as the media, government, or law enforcement. Some countries legislate as to what constitutes a protected disclosure, and the permissible methods of presenting a disclosure. Whistleblowing can occur in the private sector or the public sector. Whistleblowers often face retaliation for their disclosure, including termination of emp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Guardian Media Group, owned by the Scott Trust Limited. The trust was created in 1936 to "secure the financial and editorial independence of ''The Guardian'' in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of ''The Guardian'' free from commercial or political interference". The trust was converted into a limited company in 2008, with a constitution written so as to maintain for ''The Guardian'' the same protections as were built into the structure of the Scott Trust by its creators. Profits are reinvested in its journalism rather than distributed to owners or shareholders. It is considered a newspaper of record in the UK. The editor-in-chief Katharine Viner succeeded Alan Rusbridger in 2015. S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
