French banking watchdog flags possible fraud at Leonteq to prosecutors, report says (updated)

Leonteq AG

06/03/2024 16:56

(Adds no comment from watchdog)
       PARIS, March 6 (Reuters) - The French banking watchdog
ACPR has alerted Paris prosecutors to possible money laundering
and financial fraud linked to Swiss-listed Leonteq, the Les
Echos newspaper reported on Wednesday. 
    According to the report, which cited unnamed sources, the
watchdog noticed shortcomings in investment services company
Leonteq's disclosure of suspicious transactions to authorities,
and insufficient checks linked to accounts and transactions of
clients in high-risk countries, as determined by global
money-laundering task force FATF. 
    Leonteq said it was not aware that French regulators had
reported irregularities linked to its anti-money-laundering or
tax processes to prosecutors. 
    "Leonteq was confronted with certain allegations in 2022 and
2023 concerning products distributed by third parties in the
past," the company said in an emailed statement. 
    It said investigations into the matter it had commissioned
found no evidence of intentional misconduct by its employees. 
    Leonteq said it took any "potential finding by supervisory
authorities very seriously".  
    The regulator ACPR declined to comment when contacted by
Reuters.

 (Reporting by Tassilo Hummel
Editing by Bernadette Baum and Barbara Lewis)
 ((tassilo.hummel@thomsonreuters.com ; Twitter handle:
@tassilo_hummel;))