Germany’s financial watchdog has hit JP Morgan’s European subsidiary with an unprecedented fine for “systemic” reporting failures.
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BaFin announced today the record €45 million ($52 million) administrative penalty against Frankfurt-based JP Morgan SE for breaching its supervisory obligations between October 2021 and September 2022, finding the bank had “systemically failed to submit suspicious transaction reports without undue delay”.
The fine is BaFin’s largest ever, usurping its 2015 fine against Deutsche Bank for anti-money laundering deficiencies worth, €40 million ($46 million).
BaFin can impose administrative fines in line with an institution’s turnover when it identifies systemic regulatory breaches, resulting in the increased penalty.
JP Morgan SE is jointly supervised by BaFin, Germany's central bank and the European Central Bank.
A JP Morgan spokesperson said: “The fine relates to historical findings and the timing of our suspicious activity report filings did not impede any investigations by the authorities.” The bank is “deeply committed to detecting, preventing and reporting money laundering and financial crimes,” they added.
Credit institutions are obliged entities under the German Money Laundering Act and are responsible for preventing breaches of their obligations through such means as suspicious transaction reports.
If an institution suspects a business transaction may be related to money laundering or terrorist financing, it must report to the German financial intelligence unit, which will forward any information to law enforcement agencies.
JP Morgan held over $4.6 trillion in assets globally as of June 2025, making it the world’s fifth largest bank by total assets and the largest outside China. Under chairman Jamie Dimon’s leadership, the financial services giant has increased its market capitalisation five-fold to $850 billion in recent years, exceeding that of Wall Street rivals Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo combined.