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.