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.