Estonian prosecutor-general Lavly Perling (pictured) has told her country's parliament that her office is now conducting a criminal money-laundering investigation of Danske Bank. This is a direct result of the decision by investor Bill Browder, the CEO of Hermitage Capital, to send a complaint about the bank to the Danish public prosecutor and another about 26 of its employees to Perling.

The Estonian prosecutor's spokesman, Kaarel Kallas, was not available when Compliance Matters called, but he told Reuters a few hours earlier that the information that Browder had submitted was not, on its own accord, enough to secure any convictions.

The bank very recently told reporters that (pending the outcome of any regulatory or other investigation) it would forego any profits it made from fees it collected while processing suspicious transactions in Estonia. This is less of a noble sacrifice than it first may seem, as the doctrine of 'disgorgement' is now common among regulators.