Dutch authorities named Danske Bank CEO Chris Vogelzang, as a suspect in a probe into violations of money-laundering regulations at Dutch lender ABN Amro. Vogelzang took control of Danske Bank in June 2019, with an intention to steer Danske through one of the world’s biggest money laundering scandals. Danske bank has been helping their customers being financially confident and help them build their lives and businesses on a solid financial foundation. In addition to banking services, Danske bank also provides services in the fields of life insurance and pensions, mortgage finance, asset management, real-estate and leasing. Vogelzang gave his resignation on Monday after he was suspected in the case of violations of money laundering regulations at Dutch lender ABN Amro. Danske Bank also confirmed in a statement about this, of taking Vogelzang name as a suspect and held him for the violations of the money laundering regulations. Vogelzang also gave a statement where he said that he is very surprised about the decision by the Dutch Authorities. He also stated that adding his status as a suspect did not imply that he would be charged. He mentioned that given the special situation Danske Bank is in present and the intense scrutiny under which the bank is, he does not want speculations about his person to stand in between the way of Danske Bank’s continuous development. Vogelzang took control of Danske Bank in June 2019, where in between 2007 and 2015, €200 billion in suspicious transactions were passed through its Estonian branch.
Danske chairman Karsten Dybvad said that they (as a Danske Bank members) are not happy and feel sorry to see Chris Vogelzang leaving Danske Bank. Vogelzang has been extremely instrumental in the initiation of the transformation going on inside the Danske Bank, and the progress and results it has already created. Carsten Egeriis, who has been the Danske’s chief risk officer for the last 4 years will be appointed as the chief executive officer in place of Chris Vogelzang, effective immediately after Chris Vogelzang left. Danske Bank is expecting from Carsten Egeriis to abide by all the rules and regulations of the Danske Bank and expect him to stand by all the means of the Bank to drive its growth. Gerrit Zalm, Danske board member and Vogelzang’s former boss at ABN Amro aso decided to resign after this situation. This situation has been a worse thing for Danske Bank, the officials added. Danske bank has confirmed that they will have to work with their newly appointed officials to overcome this change and make sure that the workflow goes on fluently with no loss or disturbance due to this immediate change. Danske Bank expects their new CEO, Carsten Egeriis to follow the aim of creating long-term value for all their stakeholders, their customers, shareholders and the societies they are part of. It is expected from the newly appointed CEO to be clear of the vision of being recognized as the most trusted financial partner.