In a region where the concept of ethical investing is regularly held up as a goal, none of the big institutional investors contacted by Bloomberg said they would consider divesting shares of banks under investigation for laundering. Several of these have taken advantage of share price declines to add to existing stakes.

At the top of the list is Norway’s USD 1tn sovereign wealth fund, which this month underlined its intention to remain a long-term investor in the Nordic banks caught up in dirty money affairs. The biggest pension funds in Denmark and Sweden have made similar statements. The funds Bloomberg spoke to said it was their intention to stay invested in order to take on a more activist role.

"Of course we take it very seriously," said Eva Halvarsson, the chief executive officer of one of Sweden’s biggest pension funds, AP2. “We have shares in all the banks and are also cooperating with them in our role as asset managers. We follow the developments closely and have contacts at various levels.”