Several US regulatory agencies are probing Espirito Santo Bank, the Miami-based unit of Portugal’s bailed out bank Banco Espírito Santo, over wealth-management transactions it conducted with an affiliate bank in Panama.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC), the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and Florida’s Office of Financial Regulation are investigating the bank after the bank self reported the transactions late last year.
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Dindy Yokel, a spokeswoman for the bank, told Bloomberg that regulators are looking into 30 to 40 wealth-management transactions it conducted with clients of Panama’s ES Bank over the last decade.
The Miami bank, which operates out of a single branch in a 36-story skyscraper, caters to rich South Americans, helping manage their wealth and invest in Florida real estate.
As on 30 June 2014, the bank had US$751 million in assets and posted a $943,000 net profit for the first half of the year.
