meta_id 3395233

On August 3, 2026, the German Financial Supervisory Authority (Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht — BaFin) ordered Norddeutsche Landesbank Girozentrale (Nord/LB), based in Hannover, to take appropriate and suitable measures to eliminate significant deficiencies in anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) prevention, specifically in the area of customer data updating. BaFin identified substantial gaps in Nord/LB's customer due diligence processes and a significant backlog in updating customer data, which violated requirements under the German Money Laundering Act (Geldwäschegesetz — GwG). The deficiencies concerned the bank's failure to maintain current and complete customer information at appropriate intervals, as required by law. Under the GwG, credit institutions must conduct continuous monitoring of business relationships and ensure that customer documents, data, and information are updated within reasonable timeframes to prevent their services from being misused to launder proceeds of crime. BaFin's order requires Nord/LB to submit and implement a comprehensive concept for customer data updating and to bring all non-updated customer data into compliance with statutory requirements. The bank must also submit regular progress reports to BaFin on the remediation of these deficiencies. BaFin issued this order under Section 51(2) of the GwG and Section 44(1) of the German Banking Act (Kreditwesengesetz — KWG). The order became final and binding on June 14, 2026. Nord/LB must now develop and execute a remediation plan addressing the identified AML/CTF control weaknesses to ensure compliance with German financial services regulations.