Will Danske Bank or any of its executives face serious consequences for allowing almost unprecedented money laundering? The short answer looks like no.

The bank could be barred from the American financial system if it is designated as a “primary money laundering concern.” Section 311 of the Patriot Act, adopted after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, authorizes the Treasury Department to take “special measures” against foreign banks that do not adequately address money laundering and terrorist financing problems.

The special measures can involve requiring record-keeping for certain transactions, obtaining information about the beneficial owners of accounts and identifying customers who use a correspondent account with a financial institution in the United States. The biggest hammer in Section 311 authorizes the government to prohibit a foreign bank from having correspondent accounts with an American bank, effectively cutting it off from any dealings in this country. That would cripple any large bank, because banks need access to the financial system in the United States to serve customers dealing in dollars or having cross-border transactions.

The Treasury Department took that step in February when it issued a notice to bar ABLV Bank, in Riga, Latvia, from having any future dealings with the American financial system. According to the notice published in the case, the government found that ABLV “executives, shareholders and employees have institutionalized money laundering as a pillar of the bank’s business practices.”

The chance that Danske could face similar action appears to be small. The bank is the largest in Denmark, with 2.7 million customers and 20,000 employees, and has offered to cooperate with the investigations. Danske is likely “too big to jail,” meaning the potential job losses and customer disruptions would be so great that the United States would not take steps to put it out of business.

Whether we will see anyone at the bank charged with misconduct is another issue. Senior executives often are able to insulate themselves from day-to-day decisions, so finding their fingerprints on anything that might lead to criminal charges seems unlikely.

None of that means the bank will get a free pass. The National Crime Agency in Britain opened an investigation because at least some of the money laundering occurred through companies registered in Britain. The Justice Department, the Treasury Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission are reported to be looking into the conduct, which is likely to result in some type of settlement.