BaFin Imposes EUR 8.66 Million Administrative Fine on Deutsche Bank

The German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority - BaFin announced that it has imposed an administrative fine amounting to EUR 8.66 million on Deutsche Bank AG on 28 December 2021.

The financial watchdog explained that as a supervised contributor to the Euro Interbank Offered Rate (EURIBOR), the bank at times did not have in place effective preventive systems, controls and policies within the meaning of Article 16(2)(a) of the European Benchmarks Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/1011).

The Benchmarks Regulation aims to ensure valid benchmarks and prevent manipulation, requiring contributors to have in place effective systems and controls (Article 16). Contributors are natural or legal persons who contribute data for determining benchmarks. In the European Union, EURIBOR is used as benchmark. Breaches of the Benchmarks Regulation can be punished by imposition of a fine of up to ten percent of the total turnover.

At the beginning of September, Fazzaco reported that the ICE Futures U.S. announced  has charged against Deutsche Bank due to its violation of Exchange Rule 4.02(c). Deutsche Bank neither admitted nor denied the alleged rule violation, but agreed to pay a monetary penalty of $7,500.