Shares of European banks tumble after leaked files reveal suspicious money flows worth more than $ 2 trillion

• FinCEN’s investigation released Sunday showed that multiple banks were involved in moving more than $ 2 trillion in shady funds.
• Banks that reported the highest amounts of suspicious activity: JPMorgan, Standard Chartered, Barclays, Deutsche Bank and BNY Mellon.
• Deutsche Bank accounted for the majority of transactions with $ 1.3 trillion passed between 1999 and 2017, Deutsche Welle reported.
• European bank stocks were among the biggest losers in early trading.
• HSBC’s Hong Kong shares fell more than 5% to their lowest level since 1995.
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Shares of European banks fell on Monday after thousands of leaked files released over the weekend showed how several major institutions had been involved for years in handling up to $ 2 trillion in dirty money.

The documents are part of a collection of files owned by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, an agency that operates under the Treasury Department to detect and prevent financial crime, and were first published by BuzzFeed News and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. .

European stocks were already under pressure on Monday from a resurgence in Covid-19 cases across the region, pushing the Stoxx 600 down 2.8%, but banks were easily the worst performers, prompting a drop of more than 5% in the Stoxx 600. index.

The ICIJ analyzed the documents leaked during the last 16 months with the participation of more than 400 journalists from 88 countries.

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The documents, known as FinCen files, showed that five banks: JPMorgan, Standard Chartered, Deutsche Bank, Barclays and BNY Mellon handled the most illicit funds between 1997 and 2017.

JPMorgan, HSBC and Deutsche Bank facilitated the movement of criminal money even after being caught, the agency reported.

Deutsche Bank appears to have accounted for more than half the amount, between 1999 and 2017. $ 1.3 trillion was noted to have passed through the German lender, German broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported.

Deutsche Bank shares fell 8% as of 6:49 am ET, while HSBC’s London-listed shares fell 6%, following a 5% drop in Hong Kong shares to their lowest level. since 1995.

Standard Chartered fell more than 6% and its shares in Hong Kong also fell more than 5%.

Barclays lost more than 6%, while the shares of France’s Societe Generale lost more than 7%.

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This is how various banks responded to the documents.

Banks with the highest activity in the FinCEN report