Swiss officials search Sarasin bank in German tax probe
Swiss authorities have searched the offices of private Bank J. Safra Sarasin as part of a probe led by German prosecutors into dividend stripping, an investment strategy that can be used to help clients avoid taxes, a Zurich prosecutor said.
Authorities searched Sarasin’s offices in Basel and Zurich on Thursday, as well as others connected to the bank, in a broader investigation into so-called “cum ex” dividend deals, Zurich deputy prosecutor Marcel Strassburger told Reuters.
“I can confirm the raids were related to the cum-ex deals,” Strassburger said, without giving further details.
Bank J. Safra Sarasin said its offices in Zurich and Basel had been searched based on a request for legal assistance by prosecutors in Cologne and Frankfurt related to cum-ex transactions.
“These transactions date back to a time when the bank was still owned by Rabobank. Bank J.Safra Sarasin has never set up or distributed such cum-ex products,” the bank said in an emailed statement, adding it was cooperating fully with the investigation.
Sarasin was taken over by Brazilian-Swiss private bank Safra in 2011.
Cum-ex, or dividend stripping, deals are based on trading shares both with and without entitlement to a dividend payout — hence “cum” and “ex” — a way to lower clients’ tax exposure.
A loophole in the German law that enabled the strategy was closed in 2012.
Source: Reuters-Swiss officials search Sarasin bank in German tax probe
