Employees at Dozens of Leading Banks Face German Probe
- Prosecutors are examining deals at top global finance houses
- Hundreds of investors, bankers, brokers, traders involved
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Prosecutors in Cologne are preparing their first indictments in a tax-evasion probe involving some of the biggest names in finance that cost the German treasury billions of euros, according to people familiar with the matter.
Investigators are looking at the role of dozens of banks, brokerages, accounting companies, and law firms in the deals, and the cases involve hundreds of individuals, said the people, who declined to be identified because they’re not authorized to discuss the probe. The investigations include transactions handled by lenders including Barclays, Goldman Sachs Group, Bank of America Corp., Macquarie, and BNP Paribas, and initial indictments are likely as soon as this year, the people said.