Danske Bank CEO Thomas Borgen is resigning following a probe into money-laundering in Estonia.
"It is clear that Danske Bank has failed to live up to its responsibility in the case of possible money laundering in Estonia," he said.
"I deeply regret this. Even though the investigation conducted by the external law firm concludes that I have lived up to my legal obligations, I believe that it is best for all parties that I resign."
He added: "It has been clear to me for some time that resigning would be the right thing to do, but I have held off the decision, because I have felt a responsibility for seeing the bank through this difficult period towards presentation of the investigations."
Borgen will continue in his position until a new CEO has been appointed.
The bank said it did not wish to benefit financially from suspicious transactions that took place in the non-resident portfolio of its Estonian branch in the period from 2007 to 2015.
But it is unable to provide an accurate estimate of the amount involved.
So it is donating its gross income of DKK 1.5bn ($235m) from customers in the period to an independent foundation which will be set up to support initiatives aimed at combating international financial crime.
Bloomberg cited the bank as saying a total of about EUR 200bn ($234bn) passed through its Estonian unit during the period.
Analysts surveyed by Bloomberg estimated that Danske may need to pay about $800m in fines for its breaches.
The lender revised its profit outlook down to between DKK 16bn and DKK 17bn for 2018.
