Bad year 2022 for Allianz. The German insurer was sanctioned twice in the United States for a total of 6.8 billion dollars. The highest fine ($5.7 billion) was imposed by the Department of Justice and the other ($1 billion) comes from the Securities and Exchange Commission, the stock market watchdog.
The strongest sanction includes in particular 3 billion dollars paid in compensation to the investors who lost a lot by putting their money in complex products with high risk of the company.
Most of the other sanctions concern American companies including Navient, accused of abusive practices on student loans. The Swiss Glencore, whose corrupt practices have been denounced in Africa, has been condemned twice for corruption by the American Department of Justice and for manipulation of the energy market.
In addition to these spectacular amounts, 2022 shows a rebound in sanctions since 2021 at +415%, for a total of more than 12 billion dollars. Taking a step back from the past ten years, the balance sheet puts Allianz in 10th place among the most sanctioned companies. It also shows the repeated presence of Bank of America between 2012 and 2014 for abuses related to mortgages or financial securities, repercussions of the 2008 crisis: with 124 fines, the bank had to pay more than 60 billion dollars in ten years.
JPMorgan Chase comes second with $34 billion. BNP Paribas ranks 5th. The French bank paid 14.3 billion dollars (including 8.9 billion dollars in 2015 for non-compliance with international embargoes), ahead of Deutsche Bank, which received 50 fines for a total of 13.8 billion dollars.