The daily business briefing: May 18, 2023

Deutsche Bank agrees to pay $75 million to settle lawsuit by Jeffrey Epstein's accusers, Montana bans TikTok, and more

A TikTok logo on a phone screen
Montana is the first state to impose a total TikTok ban
(Image credit: Nikolas Kokovlis/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

1. Deutsche Bank agrees to pay Epstein victims $75 million

Deutsche Bank has agreed to pay $75 million to settle a proposed class-action lawsuit by women who said they were sexually abused by financier Jeffrey Epstein, who died in jail awaiting a sex-trafficking trial. The lawsuit, filed in November 2022, accused the German bank of continuing to do business with Epstein despite being aware of the abuse, and facilitating Epstein's sex-trafficking ring. The Wall Street Journal said the lender didn't admit wrongdoing under the settlement. David Boies, one of the victims' lawyers, said in a statement the abuse "could not have happened without the collaboration and support of many powerful individuals and institutions." Deutsche Bank didn't comment, referring to a 2020 statement admitting it was a mistake to take on Epstein as a client.

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.