Deutsche Bank offices searched in securities investigation

Deutsche Bank said its offices in Frankfurt were searched on Tuesday as part of an investigation into securities transactions by its clients.

Prosecutors are conducting the raids, Christian Streckert, a spokesman for Deutsche Bank, said.

Bank employees are not accused of wrongdoing, he said. A spokesman for the prosecutors’ office declined to immediately comment. Deutsche Bank has been battered by a series of scandals and compliance costs that have topped $10 billion over the past number of years.

Co-chief executive officers Anshu Jain and Juergen Fitschen on Sunday said they would step down early, with John Cryan taking sole charge of Germany’s largest bank next May.

Deutsche Bank fell as much as 3.3 per cent in Frankfurt and was down 3.2 per cent at €27.69 on Tuesday afternoon, reducing gains this year to about 11 per cent.

Criminal investigators and tax authorities searched bank properties in Frankfurt, London and Paris as well as other parts of Germany, it was reported.

The searches are part of a probe into a tax lawyer from Hesse and others suspected of being involved in tax evasion and fraud.

- Bloomberg