Money laundering struck Swedbank announces chairman resignation with 'immediate effect'

Lars Idermark has decided to leave his role as chairman of Swedbank with immediate effect, the bank said in a statement on Friday. Swedbank is embroiled in a fast-growing money laundering scandal involving Danske Bank, which revealed last year that its Estonian branch was used to move 230 billion euros ($258 billion) of suspicious payments between 2007 and 2015.

"I have concluded that the media attention is not compatible with my CEO role at Sodra," Idermark said in a statement issued by the bank. "Therefore, I have decided that the best alternative is to leave the position as Chair of Swedbank with immediate effect."