German authorities have raided Commerzbank Frankfurt headquarters and 40 other branches across the country over alleged tax fraud by hundreds of clients.
The investigation will focus on more than 200 wealthy clients suspected of hiding income in life insurance policies provided by an Ireland-based division of an Italian financial institution that may have helped German investors evade taxes.
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State prosecutors in Bochum said that the probe is looking into the sale of wealth management products disguised as tax-efficient life insurance policies.
Commerzbank said that it wasn’t a suspect in the case and it was cooperating fully with authorities.
The raid included more than 270 tax investigators and state prosecutors.
Germany’s Handelsblatt newspaper reported that the investigation was centered on Italy’s Generali and the tax evaded amounted to several hundred million euros.
Handelsblatt’s report added that the probe focused around products known as insurance wrappers that were sold by Generali Pan Europe.
Previously, Commerzbank’s private banking business had a partnership with Generali’s Pan Europe platform, which is based in Ireland and offers cross-border insurance and wealth management products to European clients. The partnership ended in 2010 after Commerzbank merged with Dresdner Bank.
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By GlobalData"The investigations are not directed at the bank but at individual employees at another financial services provider," said a Commerzbank spokesman.
"We confirm that neither Generali Pan Europe nor any other entity in the Generali Group has received any notification by any authority relating to these reported allegations," Generali said.
