The US Federal Reserve has issued a $186 million fine to Deutsche Bank over anti-money laundering (AML) failures.

The central bank said the penalty is in relation to “unsafe and unsound” practices and violations of the board’s 2015 and 2017 consent orders linked to sanctions compliance and AML controls.

The board found that the bank had made “insufficient remedial progress” under these orders, while additionally there was evidence of deficient AML internal controls and governance processes relating to its prior relationship with the Estonian branch of Danske Bank.

The enforcement action, which also included a written agreement to address "general deficiencies" relating to the bank's governance, risk management, and controls, was held against the bank, its New York branch, and other US-based affiliates.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) recently found that along with four other major banks, Deutsche Bank had fallen foul of competition laws.

The watchdog said the banks broke the rules by sharing competitively sensitive information by participating in one or more one-to-one conversations in chatrooms.

In April, Deutsche Bank announced that profits at the bank reached their highest level since 2013 in the latest quarter.

Profit before tax was up 12 per cent year-on-year to € 1.9 billion, with net revenue growth jumping five per cent to € 7.7. billion – the highest in seven years.

Deutsche Bank boss Christian Sewing said the bank is "well on track" to meeting its 2025 targets which are part of its 'Global Hausbank' strategy.

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