Deutsche Bank AG is looking into possible money laundering by its clients in Russia involving about $6 billion of transactions over four years, Bloomberg reported yesterday, citing people familiar with the matter.

The report came as Deutsche Bank strains to put a raft of legal and regulatory problems entailing billions of dollars in fines and settlements behind it and focus on delivering a new strategy that will satisfy shareholders.

Deutsche Bank repeated a statement from May 20, saying it had suspended a small number of traders in Moscow and was conducting an internal review, but gave no details of the reason for the suspension.

'We have pledged to uphold the highest standards in combating suspicious activities and will take tough measures if we find evidence of wrongdoing,' the statement pointed out.

Germany's Manager Magazin last month cited sources saying that Deutsche Bank was investigating whether its employees in Moscow may have helped launder at least a triple-digit million-euro amount of money through the purchase and sale of over-the-counter derivatives in Moscow and London.

Bloomberg said Deutsche Bank was looking through data on transactions from 2011 through early 2015, and cited one of its sources as saying the Bank of Russia had asked Deutsche Bank to probe stock-trading activities of some of its Russian clients in October.

The European Central Bank has also been made aware of the internal investigation, Bloomberg added.-Reuters