(Bloomberg) -- Danske Bank A/S is replacing Chris Vogelzang as its chief executive officer after the former ABN Amro executive became the target of a Dutch money laundering investigation.
Vogelzang, who had been CEO for less than two years at Denmark’s biggest bank, will be replaced by Danske’s head of risk management, Carsten Egeriis.
“This follows a decision by the Dutch authorities to name him a suspect in connection with their investigations of potential violations of Dutch legislation relating to the prevention of money laundering at ABN Amro,” Danske said in a statement.
“I am very surprised by the decision by the Dutch authorities,” Vogelzang said in the statement. “I left ABN Amro more than four years ago and am comfortable with the fact that I managed my management responsibilities with integrity and dedication. My status as a suspect does not imply that I will be charged.”
Read: Dutch Prosecutor Finds Three Suspects in ABN Amro Criminal Probe
Read: Ex-ABN Banker Running Danske Says He Knows Nothing of Dutch Case
Danske is itself the subject of multiple investigations into money laundering in both the U.S. and Europe. Vogelzang had been brought on board in 2019 in an effort to help the bank clean up its act and rehabilitate its image as a law-abiding, transparent institution.
The Danish bank gained international notoriety back in 2018, when it admitted that a large part of 200 billion euros ($240 billion) in non-residential flows through a unit in Estonia was suspicious. That ended the career of a string of Danske executives, including former CEO Thomas Borgen, who has himself been the target of several investigations linked to the affair.
Borgen was initially replaced by Jesper Nielsen, who climbed the ranks within Danske. Nielsen was later forced to leave the bank due to a separate scandal in which the lender was found to have misguided investment clients.
Read: Danske Fires Ex-Interim CEO Nielsen Due to Overcharging
“We are very sorry to see Chris Vogelzang leave Danske Bank,” Chairman Karsten Dybvad said in the statement. “He has been instrumental in the initiation of the ongoing transformation of Danske Bank and the progress and results it has already created.”
Dybvad said that Egeriis, who has been a member of Danske’s executive management team as chief risk officer for almost four years, “has had a pivotal role in our remediation efforts and in the strengthening of the risk area over the last years and not least in the bank’s handling of the corona crisis.”
“The board is confident that he is the right person to lead the transformation that is already progressing well,” the chairman said.
Aside from Vogelzang, Danske said Gerrit Zalm, another former ABN Amro banker, was stepping down from its board.
(Adds details from statement, background)
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