Between November 2012—when a private-banker who had handled Jeffrey Epstein at JPMorgan joined Deutsche Bank—and the off-boarding letter dated 21 December 2018, the German lender maintained more than forty accounts for Epstein and related entities.
During that span Deutsche Bank accepted him as a "high-risk" client, processed millions in wires to alleged co-conspirators, allowed more than $800,000 in cash withdrawals, and over-ruled its own compliance staff twice—until the Miami Herald's Perversion of Justice series prompted senior management to end the relationship seven months before Epstein's 2019 arrest.1
Background: why Deutsche Bank stepped in
JPMorgan exit (March–July 2013). Internal compliance e-mails later released in U.S. Virgin Islands litigation show JPMorgan officials urging "exit this relationship," and the bank finally dropped Epstein in mid-2013, freeing him to move his fortune.2
Recruitment by a former JPMorgan banker. That banker joined Deutsche Bank's U.S. wealth unit in Nov 2012, pitched Epstein as a lucrative prospect, and opened talks in spring 2013.
Detailed timeline (2012-2018)
Red-flag patterns the bank missed
Deutsche Bank's consent order details how its systems ignored: (1) monthly cash activity averaging over $200,000; (2) wires to individuals already identified in public court filings as recruiters; and (3) public lawsuits reopening in June 2014 and January 2015 that should have triggered enhanced review.
After-effects (post-timeline)
The New York Department of Financial Services fined the bank $150 million on 7 July 2020 for these compliance failures—the first regulatory action against any lender linked to Epstein.3
Bottom line: Before Epstein's July 6 2019 arrest, Deutsche Bank's six-year relationship unfolded in three phases, rapid onboarding (2013), nominal risk review (2015), and quiet off-boarding (late 2018), with systematic compliance lapses at every stage.
In 2023 the bank paid $75 million to settle a survivor class action, without admitting liability. See Bank of America for the comparison table.
Wyden's August 2026 report
Senator Ron Wyden's August 4 staff report, Looking the Other Way, alleges that Deutsche Bank failed to report more than $250 million in suspicious Epstein-related transactions in a timely way, including funds used to pay women in Russia and other Eastern European countries. The report says the bank later retroactively identified more than 1,100 wires totaling about $147 million between 2013 and 2019, part of that larger figure, covering modeling-agency payments and settlement checks. Those numbers are staff characterizations of suspicious activity. They are not a court finding that the wires were criminal proceeds.45
Wyden recommends investigation of named bankers at Deutsche Bank, JPMorgan, and Bank of America. That recommendation is not a charge. Deutsche Bank said it takes its legal obligations seriously and regrets its historical connection with Epstein.5
For the JPMorgan side of the same report, including the 4,725 retroactive wires, see JPMorgan Chase. For Jes Staley, the former JPMorgan executive whose relationship was central to retaining Epstein, according to Wyden's report, see that dossier.