The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is said to have been probing Deutsche Bank AG for trades worth billions of dollars in behalf of Russian clients, people with knowledge of the situation told Bloomberg.
The investigation is looking into possible money laundering as the trades may have allowed the Russian clients to move funds out of the country without alerting the proper authorities.
Reuters adds that a source familiar with the matter told them that the New York State Department of Financial Services (DFS) asked for a more detailed information last month from Deutsche Bank.
The DFS was asking about the possible money laundering transactions made by the bank's Russian clients that could exceed $6 billion.
The DOJ is demanding for information about the transactions from Deutsche Bank because it involves the use of the U.S. dollar, according to Reuters.
The issue of the possible money laundering of the Russian clients was first reported by Bloomberg on June 5. 2015.
Deutsche Bank was investigating internally if the $6 billion worth of trades made in Moscow and London were connected to possible money laundering acts by its Russian clients.
The report added that the transaction involved stocks bought by the Russian client in rubles and buying the same securities for similar amounts through simultaneous transactions in London using U.S. dollars.
This inquiry to Deutsche bank is the latest of several legal woes that Germany's largest bank has been facing, according to Bloomberg.
The bank has been facing multiple investigations, resignations of top executives, and a leaked document that allegedly shows that senior officials knew about traders' efforts to manipulate the markets.
Andreas Plaesier, an analyst at M.M. Warburg in Hamburg, told Bloomberg that the bank is probably looking at a hefty fine.
"If you have several violations across the bank, then it becomes a lot harder to argue these are isolated incidents and that can drive up the fine you have to pay," he said.
