“French Banks Subjected to Inspection for Alleged Tax Evasion and Money Laundering”

The Financial Prosecution Office in France is conducting inspections in five banks, as part of ongoing investigations into incidents of tax evasion and money laundering, according to a statement issued yesterday.

The statement, reported by Bloomberg News yesterday, stated that the investigations are related to banks located in Paris and the “La Defense” neighborhood.

The statement did not name the companies involved.

In a related development, Societe Generale Bank said that its French headquarters are subject to inspections as part of the investigations. The French newspaper “Le Monde” mentioned the names of “HSBC Holdings”, “BNP Paribas”, “Societe Generale” and “Naticase”, among the investigations.