Trump and Kushner Accounts: New York Times

Deutsche Bank employees flagged transactions of the Trump Foundation and other entities controlled by Donald Trump and Jared Kushner in 2016 and 2017 and prepared suspicious-activity reports for federal review. “But executives at Deutsche Bank, which has lent billions of dollars to the Trump and Kushner companies, rejected their employees’ advice,” reports David Enrich for the New York Times. Bank executives had a pattern of rejecting “rejecting valid reports to protect relationships with lucrative clients,” employees said. When Trump struggled to receive loans, Germany’s multinational Deutsche Bank stepped up, and the bank denies the the employee claims. Such reports do not necessarily mean the transactions were improper. However, the president refuses to release his tax returns and discourages investigations into his finances. Government officials initially said Kushner, a presidential adviser, did not qualify for a security clearance. The report highlights problems: giving banks control over their own enforcement, the challenges in monitoring cross-border finances and inconsistent enforcement for wealthy clients who borrow large sums. Six current and former bank employees in the Jacksonville office that reviews transactions for compliance with anti-money laundering laws said the bank’s operations are “deeply troubled.” – YaleGlobal