Barclays, Citi, SocGen, BNP Paribas named in Deutsche Bank bribe case
- The middleman who admitted to paying bribes over trades he helped broker between Deutsche Bank (DB -1%) and a Dutch housing company said he was also getting commissions from other banks including Barclays (BCS -2.1%), Citigroup (C -1.1%), Societe Generale (OTCPK:SCGLF), and BNP Paribas (OTCQX:BNPQF), Bloomberg reports.
- Deutsche Bank said it didn't know about the "secret arrangements" between First in Finance Alternatives and the Dutch company, Stichting Vestia, and that First in Finance seemed to be a legitimate intermediary.
- The other banks aren't being accused of knowing that First in Finance was passing on fees to Vestia's treasury and control manager, Marcel De Vries.
- Vestia almost collapsed after losing more than EUR 2B on derivatives that went bad, a "substantial part" of which came from trading with Deutsche Bank.
- Vestia is suing, saying some of the derivative deals were "flawed" because of the bribes.
- Deutsche Bank says "Vestia's allegations are without basis."