French authorities search 5 banks in Paris in tax fraud case

Authorities raided the Paris offices of five banks Tuesday on suspicion of tax fraud, the French National Financial Prosecutor's Office said.

The raids come as part of five preliminary investigations opened in December 2021 on counts of alleged money laundering, and alleged tax fraud linked to dividend payments, the office said in a statement. It didn't specify which banks were raided.

French media said the banks searched included HSBC, BNP Paribas, Exane — a subsidiary of BNP — Societe Generale, and Natixis.