The Netherlands: Russian money laundering machine shifted millions through the Netherlands

On March the 5th. DutchNews reported that a money laundering operation which moved billions of euros out of Russia shifted part of the cash through the Netherlands, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project said on Monday.

In total, almost €1bn of the money ended up in the Netherlands, some of which was used to buy two luxury yachts, said the research project, which includes Trouw and the Groene Amsterdammer magazine plus Dutch investigative journalism collective Investico.

The OCCRP says Troika Dialog, once Russia’s largest private investment bank, channeled billions of dollars out of Russia from 2004 via a network of 70 offshore companies with accounts in Lithuania. The two Lithuanian banks were closed down in 2011 and 2013.

The scheme was discovered in a collection of 1.3 million banking transactions and other documents obtained by OCCRP and the Lithuanian news site 15min.lt, which stem from the two Lithuanian banks.

Some of the money was channeled into the Netherlands via the Amsterdam Trade Bank (ATB) and Turkey’s C. ATB, part of Russia’s Alfa Bank, is already involved in corruption investigations.

Smaller amounts were moved through ING and ABN Amro, the Groene Amsterdammer said. ‘The million euro payments came from the Troika Bank and had many signs of money laundering,’ the magazine said.

In addition, €43m went to the Rabobank account of luxury yacht builder Heesen, according to Dutch investigative news collective Investico.

 ‘How could all this happen under the watchful eye of the central bank DNB?’ the magazine asked. ‘Banks are banned from carrying out transactions if they don’t know who profits, but, the central bank says, banks often have no idea who is really hiding behind anonymous companies.’

 The central bank declined to answer specific questions about the claims, the Groene Amsterdammer said.

EU-Digest

The Netherlands: World Trade Center Almere Business Club Kicks off 2015 with breakfast update on Dutch Economy

WTC Almere

The World Trade Center in Almere kicks-off its Business Club activities for 2015 with a breakfast on January 7, 2015 at 7.30 am

During the breakfast Arthur Bouvy, director corporate and private operations of the Rabobank in Almere, will give his vision and economic forecast on the Netherlands business and financial environment for 2015. .

The Almere World Trade Center is located just opposite the Almere Central train station.

For additional details about this event click on the link below..

Read more: New Years Breakfast Kick off 2015 | WTC Almere

Netherlands - Banking Industry: Rabobank to Eliminate More Jobs in the Netherlands - by Martin van Tartwijk

Dutch lender Rabobank Group will eliminate more jobs in the Netherlands as it seeks to downsize its domestic operations and further reduce costs.

The bank said late Friday it will cut between 1,000 and 2,000 jobs in thenext several years, largely at its headquarters in Utrecht. The overhaul will also affect the Dutch activities of Rabobank's international arm, which will be integrated into the headquarters.

The move will help to reduce annual costs EUR220 million by 2016, the bank said. It follows a previously unveiled restructuring in the Netherlands that will result in 8,000 job losses and the closure of hundreds of branches.

The Dutch bank employs about 60,000 world-wide. Like other lenders, Rabobank is seeking to slash costs as it faces a stricter regulatory environment and as customers are increasingly shifting to online banking.

Read more: Rabobank to Eliminate More Jobs in the Netherlands - WSJ.com

The Netherlands: Rabobank to Pay More Than $1 Billion in Libor Settlement; Chief Resigns - by Chad Bray

The Dutch lender Rabobank admitted on Tuesday to criminal wrongdoing by its employees and agreed to pay more than $1 billion in criminal and civil penalties to settle investigations by United States, British and other authorities into its role in setting global benchmark interest rates.

The bank is the latest lender to settle charges over the manipulation of the London interbank offered rate, or Libor. The settlement with Rabobank is the second-largest agreement after the $1.5 billion penalty imposed on UBS related to the interest-rate scandal.

As part of the settlement, Rabobank entered into a so-called deferred prosecution agreement, in which it will avoid criminal charges as long as it continues to cooperate with investigators and stays out of further trouble.

EU-Digest