Deutsche Bank's loans to Trump face new scrutiny
During the presidential campaign, Donald Trump pointed to his relationship with Deutsche Bank to counter reports that big banks were sceptical of doing business with him.
After a string of bankruptcies in his casino and hotel businesses in the 1990s, Trump became somewhat of an outsider on Wall Street, leaving the giant German bank among the few major financial institutions willing to lend him money.
Now that two-decades-long relationship is coming under scrutiny.
Banking regulators are reviewing hundreds of millions of dollars in loans made to Trump's businesses through Deutsche Bank's private wealth management unit, which caters to an ultra-rich clientele, according to three people briefed on the review who were not authorised to speak publicly. The regulators want to know if the loans might expose the bank to heightened risks.
Information to Robert Mueller
Separately, Deutsche Bank has been in contact with federal investigators about the Trump accounts, according to two people briefed on the matter. And the bank is expecting to eventually have to provide information to Robert Mueller, the special counsel overseeing the federal investigation into the Trump campaign's ties to Russia.
It was not clear what information the bank might ultimately provide.
Generally, the bank is seen as central to understanding Trump's finances since it is the only major financial institution that continues to conduct sizeable business with him. Deutsche Bank has also lent money to Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law and senior adviser, and to his family real estate business.
Although Deutsche Bank recently landed in legal trouble for laundering money for Russian entities – paying more than $US600 million in penalties to New York and British regulators – there is no indication of a Russian connection to Trump's loans or accounts at Deutsche Bank, people briefed on the matter say.
