Former Swedbank CEO Birgitte Bonnesen has been sentenced to 15 months in prison by the Svea Court of Appeal in Sweden for spreading misleading information about the bank's money laundering issues in Estonia.
Bonnesen, who led the bank from 2016 until her dismissal in 2019, was convicted of "gross swindling," making her the highest-ranking Swedish banker jailed over the scandal. The court found that two statements Bonnesen made to the media and analysts in 2018 were misleading and violated the Swedish Criminal Code. These statements falsely suggested there were no suspicious money laundering links in the bank's Estonian operations, leaving investors in the dark regarding the true financial risks facing the firm.
The conviction is part of one of Europe's largest money-laundering scandals, which implicated both Swedbank and Denmark's Danske Bank. Investigations revealed that Russian oligarchs and criminals moved billions through their Baltic branches into the Western financial system. Reports from Swedbank and law firm Clifford Chance uncovered high-risk transactions totaling up to €80bn from non-resident clients between 2008 and 2013. Most of the funds came from Russia and former Soviet states.
In 2023, Starling Insights published "The Era of Accountability," a Deeper Dive report discussing the global push from regulators, politicians, investors, employees, and the public to hold corporate leaders accountable for the (mis-) management of culture and conduct risks.
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