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Police Raid Deutsche Over Panama Papers Leaks

Tom Burroughes

29 November 2018

Europe’s financial compliance woes continue after Germany’s biggest bank,  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.