Reuters reports this morning that the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said that federal prosecutors will charge the bank, its treasurer Rick Moscati, and two other companies over a stock placement. Underwriters for the issue, Deutsche Bank and Citigroup, have said they expect to be charged over cartel arrangements. Needless to say, all the firms deny wrongdoing. The Australian banking sector, dominated by four big banks, has been under a massive investigation and public inquiry this year over wrongdoing, breaches of anti-money laundering rules and unfair practices.
Separately, Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas has been placed on the list of ‘problem’ banks by the US FDIC. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which was instrumental in bailing out the sector following the 2007-2009 financial collapse, has 92 banks on this list. The test involves looking at capital, assets, management, earnings, liquidity and sensitivity to market risk. Another issue the lender has to deal with is today’s downgrade to its credit rating by S&P, because the bank’s ‘updated strategy envisages a deeper restructuring of the business model than we previously expected’. They are now BBB+, the third-lowest investment grade.
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