Deutsche Bank headquarters raided for money laundering

Deutsche Bank headquarters in Frankfurt was searched by prosecutors during a money laundering investigation.

The German prosecutor said that two staff members had helped clients launder money from criminal activities.

Police cars have been sighted outside the towers that house the headquarters of the largest bank in Germany.

Other offices of the Deutsche Deutsche in the city were searched during an operation involving about 170 police officers and officials.

Prosecutors are investigating whether Deutsche Bank staff helped clients set up accounts abroad to "transfer money from criminal activities".

The investigation was sparked by revelations in the 2016 "Panama Papers" – a huge amount of information leaked to one of the world's most secretive corporations, a law firm Panamanian called Mossack Fonseca.

• What are Panama Papers?

Other banks, including the Swedish Nordea and German Handelsbanken, were fined as a result of information contained in the Panama Papers.

Deutsche Bank shares fell 3% after the news of the raid. The company confirmed that the police had made several raids in Germany and that she was cooperating fully with the probe.

Documents and electronic documents were seized by the authorities during the searches of the bank's properties.

Deutsche Bank has been badociated with another huge money-laundering scandal at Danske Bank.

Earlier this month, he confirmed his participation in the processing of payments for the Danish bank in Estonia.

An internal survey conducted by Danske Bank revealed that about 200 billion euros in payments were routed through its Estonian branch.

The Danish bank stated that many of these payments were suspicious.

Deutsche Bank said it ended its relationship with Danske in 2015 after "identifying suspicious activity".

Fines and sanctions

Deutsche Bank has already been punished for failing to fight against money laundering.

In September, the German financial regulator ordered the bank to take further steps to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing.

It has also appointed an independent auditor to monitor Deutsche Bank's efforts over a period of three years.

In 2017, US and UK regulators fined Deutsche Bank $ 630 million as part of a Russian anti-money laundering plan.

Under this program, customers illegally transferred $ 10 billion out of Russia via shares bought and sold through the bank's offices in Moscow, London and New York.

Problems with the authorities come at a time when Deutsche Bank has problems with its activities.

Profits have dropped. Compared to the same period last year, third-quarter profit before tax decreased by 45% to 506 million euros.

Chief Executive Christian Sewing, who took office in April, cut jobs and made other cost reductions to boost the bank's performance.

But his efforts have not convinced investors yet. The bank's shares have halved in value since the beginning of the year.