The chief executive of Danske Bank has resigned amid allegations of a major money-laundering scandal.
Thomas Borgen will continue in his role until a replacement is found, said the bank on Wednesday.
“Even though the investigation conducted by the external law firm concludes that I have lived up to my legal obligations, I believe that it is best for all parties that I resign,” he said.
“It is clear that Danske Bank has failed to live up to its responsibility in the case of possible money laundering in Estonia.”
“I deeply regret this,” he added in a statement.
The Copenhagen-based bank has been at the centre of a money laundering scandal where the bank’s Estonian operations were used to launder as much as $9.1 billion between 2007 and 2015.
“As the CEO, I have the management responsibility for the things that take place in the bank, and, of course, I take on this responsibility,” said the bank’s chief.
“It has been clear to me for some time that resigning would be the right thing to do, but I have held off the decision, because I have felt a responsibility for seeing the bank through this difficult period towards presentation of the investigations,” he added.
Shares in Danske fell over four percent in Copenhagen following Borgen’s resignation, lowering the group’s full-year outlook.
Earlier this year, the bank reported a 45 percent fall in profits.
Danske Bank is the latest bank involved in money laundering scandals. Last year, Deutsche Bank AG (ETR: DBK) was fined almost $700 million for helping Russians move $10 billion.
Earlier this month, ING Group NV (NYSE: ING) earlier this month paid $900 million to settle a laundering case.
Shares in Danske Bank (CPH: DANSKE) are currently trading down 6.29 percent at 163,85 (0922GMT).
