Think only American banks can behave badly?

A lot of bad behavior at a lot of American banks has critics in the U.S. demanding more regulation — maybe on the European model?

But it turns out our friends across the Atlantic can be pretty cynical, too.

Der Spiegel (a German magazine) is reporting on a Deutsche Bank investment fund “designed to profit from premature deaths in the US…”

The bank fund was basically built around the idea of buying up American life insurance policies, in the hope that the people insured would cash out permanently.

Deutsche Bank collected some €500,000 ($750,000) from customers for its macabre money-making scheme. But the fund quickly turned into a mega-flop. So far, not one investor has received even a single dividend payment and some may lose their entire principal.

Now, Strate has filed a criminal complaint with public prosecutors in Frankfurt on behalf of one of those who invested in the fund. A lawyer from Munich has also announced his intention of filing a complaint of his own, believed to be on behalf of dozens of clients. He is also preparing claims for damages.

Yeesh. Read the entire article, in English, here.