Legal
Police Raid Deutsche Over Panama Papers Leaks
German authorities are investigating Deutsche Bank in connection with the Panama Papers case.
Europe’s financial compliance woes continue after Germany’s
biggest bank, Deutsche Bank,
confirmed that police are investigating several of its offices in
the country in connection with the Panama Papers offshore
accounts case.
Shares in the lender were down by around 4.7 per cent shortly
before 12:00 noon GMT today.
The Frankfurt-listed bank said, when asked about media reports
that there have been police raids on its offices: “It is true
that the police are currently conducting an investigation at a
number of our offices in Germany. The investigation has to do
with the Panama Papers case. More details will be communicated as
soon as these become known. We are cooperating fully with the
authorities.”
The bank declined to comment further.
The Panama
Papers data leaks, in which thousands of files were
taken from Panama-based law firm Mossack Fonseca, is one of
several cases where details of offshore accounts have been put
into the public domain. The affair has caused political
embarrassment in a number of countries, prompting several
investigations by countries’ tax authorities. The leaks involved
the Washington DC-based International Consortium of Investigative
Journalists. The ICIJ’s conduct, and the publication of masses of
such data, has been controversial
and drawn criticism, however.
In Europe, the region has been rocked in recent months by money
laundering scandals in the Baltic region, and other countries.
Already, that particular episode has hit Copenhagen-based Danske
Bank. These cases have prompted calls from European policymakers
for tougher AML controls and punishments for wrongdoers.
