Raid on Deutsche Bank’s Frankfurt offices enters second day as shares fall
A raid on Deutsche Bank’s Frankfurt offices has entered its second day, German prosecutors said this morning, sending shares down by almost three per cent.
The operation is targeting two staff members who are alleged to have set up off-shore firms for clients to launder money from criminality.
According to a statement from German prosecutors, two employees, aged 46 and 50 were the targets of the raids.
The search has entered its second day because of the large volume of material involved.
Prosecutors said a probe into the Panama Papers, files from the law firm Mossack Fonseca that were leaked online, showed Deutsche may have helped clients set up off-shore accounts in tax havens to launder criminal proceedings.
Deutsche Bank’s shares fell by as much as 2.96 per cent this morning to an all-time low of €8.03, having already lost more than half their value this year amid a series of setbacks.
The bank has been rocked by three years of losses and a series of financial and regulatory scandals.
It appointed Christian Sewing as its new chief executive in April to help turn things around.
Last year Deutsche agreed a $7.2bn (£5.6bn) settlement with US authorities over the sale of toxic mortgage securities in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis.
Yesterday a Deutsche Bank spokesperson said: "As far as we are concerned, we have already provided the authorities with all the relevant information regarding Panama Papers. Of course, we will cooperate closely with the public prosecutor's office in Frankfurt, as it is in our interest as well to clarify the facts. In recent years, we have proven that we fully cooperate with the authorities – and we will continue to do so."