Morgan Stanley’s German branch searched by prosecutors

BERLIN, May 3 (Reuters) – The German branch of Morgan Stanley was searched by prosecutors in Frankfurt in relation to “past activity” on Tuesday, a spokesperson for the U.S. bank said.

German prosecutors said earlier Tuesday that they were searching a bank in Frankfurt as well as the private homes of two suspects in relation to the “cum-ex” tax fraud scandal, but they did not name which bank.

The Morgan Stanley spokesperson said the bank was continuing to cooperate with German authorities.

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Prosecutors said the search was being conducted in particular to collect relevant emails and written correspondence.

The scandal is Germany’s biggest post-war fraud involving a share-trading scheme that the authorities say cost taxpayers billions of euros.

A large number of banks were involved in the cum-ex deals: In the past few weeks alone there have been raids on the German branches of Barclays and the investment bank Merrill Lynch.

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Reporting by Elke Ahlswede, Writing by Miranda Murray
Editing by Madeline Chambers

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

source: reuters.com