Mubasher: Deutsche Bank will pay more than $16 million in a settlement with a US regulator over allegations of breaching US corruption laws by hiring relatives of overseas government officials to win business.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) claimed that Deutsche employed relatives of foreign officials in Asia and Russia, who lacked qualifications, a violation to the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the markets regulator said on Thursday.

Between at least, 2006 and 2014, Deutsche Bank poorly or unqualified relatives of executives at state-run enterprises with the “primary goal” of generating business for the lender, including initial public offerings (IPOs).

Germany’s biggest lender did not admit or deny the findings under the settlement, the SEC said.

Moreover, the US top financial watchdog found that employees at the bank created false books and records with to hide such practices, while they failed to record accurate related expenses.

“Deutsche Bank provided substantial cooperation to the SEC in its inquiry and has implemented numerous remedial measures to improve the bank’s hiring practices,” a spokesman told Reuters in an emailed statement.