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Bloomberg
BNP Paribas SA’s Frankfurt offices were raided by German prosecutors as part of their vast investigation into the controversial Cum-Ex scandal that has swept up Wall Street’s biggest banks.
A spokesperson for the bank confirmed the search and said it’s cooperating. A Cologne prosecutors’ spokesman said that the agency raiding a bank in Frankfurt since January 24 without disclosing its name. Prosecutors are investigating a total of 58 suspects who work or used to work for the lender. Some of them also saw their homes raided, they said.
Cum-Ex was a trading strategy across Europe that siphoned off billions of euros in government revenue, by taking advantage of tax laws that seemed to allow multiple investors to claim refunds of a tax on dividends that was paid only once. Germany moved to abolish the practice in 2012.
While dating back more than a decade, the Cum-Ex scandal continues to roil the
financial industry.
Prosecutors in Cologne are investigating more than 1,500 people and are ramping up the pressure on international banks.