Deutsche Bank agreed to pay $75 million to settle a lawsuit brought by women who accused the bank of enabling Jeffrey Epstein’s sex trafficking operation. The plaintiffs claimed Deutsche Bank ignored multiple red flags and continued to process transactions that directly facilitated Epstein’s abuse—payments that were allegedly routed to victims, recruiters, and associates even after Epstein’s 2008 conviction was widely known. The settlement, reached in 2023, marked one of the largest financial agreements of its kind between a major bank and victims of sexual exploitation, with court filings revealing that Epstein maintained dozens of accounts at Deutsche Bank between 2013 and 2018.


In addition to the civil settlement, Deutsche Bank previously paid a $150 million regulatory fine in 2020 to New York’s Department of Financial Services for “significant compliance failures” related to its relationship with Epstein. The bank admitted it had misclassified Epstein as a low-risk client despite internal warnings and compliance alerts noting his criminal history. Executives later described taking Epstein on as a “critical mistake,” and following public outcry, Deutsche Bank announced an overhaul of its anti–money laundering systems. The settlement underscored how major financial institutions helped sustain Epstein’s criminal enterprise long after his name should have been toxic in global banking circles.


to contact me:

[email protected]