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Tax Fraud Searches at Deutsche Boerse’s Clearstream Unit Continue

Tax Fraud Searches at Deutsche Boerse’s Clearstream Unit Continue

(Bloomberg) -- Deutsche Boerse AG, the operator of the Frankfurt stock exchange, said that searches at the company’s offices are continuing for a second day in a tax probe related to controversial Cum-Ex trades.

Cologne prosecutors started the searches at Deutsche Boerse’s Clearstream unit on Tuesday. The company has said that the probe targets staff and customers. The raids took place at the company’s offices in Eschborn, Germany, and Luxembourg, according to people familiar with the investigation.

The Cum-Ex scandal has caught up multiple financial institutions, including Deutsche Bank AG, Bank of New York Mellon Corp. and Societe Generale SA. The controversial transactions took advantage of a now abandoned German practice of taxing dividends, which made it possible to get multiple refunds on a tax paid only once, according to investigators.

The company said it is cooperating with the authorities. Cologne prosecutors confirmed that the raids in a Cum-Ex case continue without providing any names or further details.

Deutsche Boerse shares fell as much 1.43% and traded at 127.15 euros at 12:08 p.m. in Frankfurt.

Clearstream learned in 2017 that Cologne prosecutors had started to probe one of its employees for his alleged involvement in the Cum-Ex matter. The company said in a filing last year that prosecutors initiated proceedings to make it a party in the case, which could allow them to seize profits from the disputed deals.

To contact the reporter on this story: Karin Matussek in Berlin at kmatussek@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anthony Aarons at aaarons@bloomberg.net

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