By Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen
COPENHAGEN (Reuters) - Danske Bank, under investigation over its involvement in one of the world's biggest money laundering scandals, on Friday said it had appointed Chris Vogelzang as chief executive.
The appointment comes as Danske faces the threat of massive fines from U.S. and other authorities investigating the bank over suspicious transactions of some 200 billion euros (172 billion pounds) that passed through its Estonian branch between 2007 and 2015.
Vogelzang, who was on the management board of ABN Amro until 2017, will take over on June 1 from Jesper Nielsen, the interim CEO appointed last October after the resignation of Thomas Borgen.
Since 2017, Vogelzang, 56, has held advisory roles in Boston Consulting Group and Blackstone as well as non-executive directorships in the Netherlands and the UK.
"He has extensive leadership and commercial experience within banking and has throughout his career managed difficult challenges and delivered good results," Danske Chairman Karsten Dybvad said in a statement.
"We have a big task ahead of us in continuing to rebuild trust and at the same time developing our business in pace with customer expectations and the technological development to ensure that we remain a leading Nordic bank," Dybvad said.
The appointment comes after it was revealed this week that Danish prosecutors have charged Borgen and eight other former Danske managers over their involvement in the money laundering scandal.
Shares in Danske Bank have more than halved since March last year. On Friday, the shares rose 1.8 percent in early trading.
(Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen; Editing by David Goodman/Keith Weir)
