Deutsche Bank fined almost $10m by German finance watchdog

Germany’s finance watchdog fined Deutsche Bank €8.66m ($9.8m) over its handling of submissions for Euribor, a reference rate at the heart of a scandal that rocked the industry.

The lender temporarily didn’t have effective systems and controls for contributions to the benchmark, BaFin, said in a statement.

More than a decade after the financial crisis revealed rampant misconduct and deficient controls, banks are still working through remediation measures and regulatory investigations. While comparatively small, the BaFin fine suggests that Deutsche Bank hasn’t fully delivered on pledges it made after facing the industry’s highest penalties in the Libor benchmark-rigging scandal.

“The bank accepts the fine as a result of a settlement with BaFin, thereby creating final legal certainty,” Deutsche Bank said in an emailed statement. “It remains a top priority for us to identify and address potential weaknesses in our control processes.” 

Deutsche Bank said that it has already implemented “initial measures” to improve controls in co-ordination with its supervisors. The bank “has no indication that the fined issue led to incorrect submissions to the benchmark administrator,” it said.

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