Rabobank to be prosecuted for failing to comply with anti-money laundering rules

The Public Prosecution Service (OM) will prosecute Rabobank for “structurally violating the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Prevention) Act,” the OM announced on Wednesday. “For years, the bank failed to conduct customer research and report unusual transactions,” the OM said.

The OM started investigating how Rabobank screens its customers in December 2022, following a report by regulator De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB). It concerns violations between October 2016 and December 2021. According to the OM, the investigation is in its final phase.

According to the OM, by failing to comply with the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Prevention) Act, the bank is facilitating these crimes. “Violating this law can have major social and economic consequences. Money laundering and terrorist financing are a threat ot the integrity of the financial system and to the security of Dutch society,” the OM said.

“We understand that the Public Prosecutor will present the case to the court,” Rabobank said in a first response. The bank stressed that it fully cooperated in the Prosecutor’s investigation and published a separate statement of the steps it has taken to prevent money laundering and terrorism financing by its customers.

The OM previously also investigated ING and ABN Amro for violating this law. In these cases, the OM and banks agreed on out-of-court settlements, in which ING was fined 775 million euros and ABN Amro 480 million euros for facilitating money laundering with weak controls.

A settlement proved impossible with Rabobank. “There is such a difference of opinion regarding a settlement that the parties have not reached an agreement at this time,” the bank said.