Inspection of UBS Europe, Denmark Branch, by the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority (Finanstilsynet)

In February 2024, Finanstilsynet carried out an inspection of UBS Europe SE Denmark Branch. The inspection was an investigation of the anti-money laundering area and dealt with, among other things, the bank’s Know Your Client (KYC) processes. In addition, the inspection also concerned clients monitoring and the reporting of suspicious transactions.

Based on the inspection in February, UBS Europe SE Denmark Branch has received 2 orders:

The first order concerns the assessment of the intended nature of a client relationship, including, if necessary, the source of wealth (SoW) and source of funds (SoF), in case of the branch’s low-risk clients. UBS has already implemented extensive measures to clarify the SoW and SoF of its clients applying a risk-based approach. Nevertheless, the bank will take the audit by Finanstilsynet as an opportunity to further deepen these processes regarding low-risk clients of its Danish branch. The same applies to the second order regarding a business procedure for reporting of suspicious transactions. Here, too, the bank has already an internal guideline in place which also applies to its Danish branch, but will describe the specific contents requested by Finanstilsynet in more detail in its guideline.

UBS Europe SE Denmark Branch will continue to have a constructive dialogue with Finanstilsynet and ensure that both orders will be complied with within the deadline set by the regulator.

The official statement of the Danish Financial Supervisory Authority on the inspection dated May 2024 (Non-Binding English translation and original Danish version) can be found below.