Deutsche Bank agreed to pay $553.6 million and admit criminal wrongdoing in a probe of tax shelters that prosecutors claim resulting in billions of dollars of lost tax revenue.
Under a nonprosecution agreement with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan and the Internal Revenue Service, the German bank is also required to continue cooperating with the long-running probe and to appoint an independent expert who will review the implementation and effectiveness of compliance measures designed to ensure that it doesn’t participate in future transactions that may be used to defraud the IRS.
The $553,633,153 payment represents the total of the fees Deutsche Bank earned from its participation in the tax shelter activity, the amount of taxes and interest the IRS was unable to collect from taxpayers because of the misconduct, and a civil penalty of more than $149 million.
Deutsche Bank said in a statement posted on its website that it had previously taken "appropriate provisions" for the full amount of the fine, so the payment would not affect current income.
It said it had participated in the transactions for clients between 1996 and 2002.
"Deutsche Bank is pleased that this investigation, which concerned transactions that ceased more than eight years ago, has come to a resolution," the firm said. "Since 2002, the Bank has significantly strengthened its policies and procedures as part of an ongoing effort to ensure strict adherence to the law and the highest standards of ethical conduct."
