Santander 'Cooperating' With German Authorities in Investigation
October 18 2018 - 7:24AM
Dow Jones News
By Pietro Lombardi
Banco Santander S.A. (SAN.MC) is "fully cooperating with German
authorities," the Spanish bank said Thursday after media reports
that German prosecutors are looking at the bank's role in an
alleged tax-evasion scheme.
The alleged evasion took place through an arbitrage strategy
known as "cum/ex" or "dividend stripping," which involves
transactions using shares that pay dividends.
The bank said it is also conducting an internal
investigation.
"Our current understanding is that the primary focus of the
investigation relates to certain activities extending from 2007 to
2011 of three former employees who left our group a number of years
ago," it said.
German tax authorities in 2011 closed loopholes around the
practice of dividend stripping.
Spain's largest bank has so far found no evidence senior
management was involved in such activities or that the governing
bodies of Santander or its subsidiaries had any knowledge of the
activities, it said.
"Banco Santander doesn't tolerate behavior that does not comply
with the rules, laws and standards applicable in the markets in
which we operate and if our investigations do identify misconduct
we will take the appropriate action," it said.
Write to Pietro Lombardi at pietro.lombardi@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 18, 2018 08:09 ET (12:09 GMT)
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