This article was originally published in Danish on November 16, 2018.
Danske Bank has been caught in extensive money laundering, about which we know very little. Perhaps it stems from criminal activity, perhaps simply from circumventing the idiotic sanctions imposed on the Russian population. However, there is much to suggest the former.
Using Danske Bank’s branch in Estonia, criminals have managed to steal large amounts of money from Russian society. And worst of all, Danske Bank was made aware of the traffic more than 10 years ago and must have had absolute knowledge of it for at least 5 years. Reports have been swept under the carpet or embellished. Management must have known everything.
Nevertheless, the bank continues to carry out the illegal transactions. The Wall Street Journal has conducted a longer analysis of the process. It makes for hair-raising reading. It portrays Danske Bank’s entire management and staff far down the ladder as a gang of well-organized criminals. The top management did resign after the revelation, but with a solid golden handshake instead of a rope they could go home and hang themselves.
Now, of course, you could say: “So what?” After all, the bank has made a fortune out of it. Yes, but after the revelation, the bank’s unsuspecting and unsuspecting shareholders lost about half of their fortunes in Danske Bank shares, and these dragged down the entire share index, so a lot of people suffered financial damage. In addition, the reputation of the entire country has been slightly frayed at the edges. This is a nation-damaging business, and everyone responsible should compensate the shareholders for their losses down to the last penny! They should be able to look forward to spending the rest of their lives paying every penny they earn to their victims. How long that life should be is another matter!
The court jester from Græsted believes that we should join the European Banking Union as a result of this scandal. What good would that do? With the help of the banks, the whole of Europe has been drained of three-digit billions of euros. No, what this shows is that we must get out of the EU. We must put an end to the free movement of capital, because it is precisely this movement that has made the crime possible! Danish companies should do business in Denmark, not in Estonia.
We are not in the habit of quoting Karl Marx, but we should recall his statement that it is a greater crime to found a bank than to rob a bank. He was absolutely right about that!
Povl H. Riis-Knudsen
Translated by means of AI
Danmarks Frihedsraad 
