Danske Bank, Bank | Danske Bank spent months informing about fee errors for 15 years
Withdrew illegally high fees from Norwegian customers for 15 years.
At the beginning of December 2020, Danske Bank in Norway learned from its head office in Copenhagen that the bank withdrew illegally high fee expenses from its Norwegian customers, and has done so for 15 years.
After the Norwegian management found out about the error, it took seven months before the bank informed the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority and the Tax Administration, in June 2021. It took months before the Norwegian customers were contacted, in July 2021, according to Dagens Næringsliv.
– In general, it is reprehensible to anticipate not complying with laws and regulations that apply to the company. The Danish Financial Supervisory Authority expects to provide information on incidents of this nature as soon as they become aware of it themselves, writes Ann Viljugrein, director of banking and insurance supervision at the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority, in an e-mail to DN.
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She further says that they take the case seriously and that the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority became aware of the case before the summer. They demand a thorough statement from the bank in a short time.
Stian Arnesen, Head of Communications at Danske Bank, tells the newspaper that the complexity of the case has grown as they have investigated it. It has made this take time, he began.
– Since we always want to inform the mentioned government agencies and our customers with as accurate information as possible, this work took as long, Arnesen writes in an e-mail to the newspaper.
The error applies to 190,000 of the Norwegian customer bank has had since 2006, writes DN. The bank does not want to answer how large a share of the customer is affected, but states that the bank has around 272,000 Norwegian retail customers today.
The up to 190,000 customers are deducted for high amounts in fees and rents on fees, especially reminder fees.
The Danish Financial Supervisory Authority, which, among other things, has the task of checking Norwegian banks to ensure that the customer has confidence in the banks, is also assessing further follow-up of the case.
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