Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on June 24, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
French authorities raided Societe Generale's offices in a tax fraud probe linked to the 'cum-ex' scheme, involving multiple bank executives.
PARIS (Reuters) -Investigators from the French national financial prosecutor's office (PNF) have searched the offices of French bank Societe Generale in La Defense, near Paris, and in Luxembourg as part of a tax fraud investigation, Le Monde newspaper reported on Tuesday.
The homes of five people, mostly bank executives, were also searched, and four people were taken into custody, Le Monde reported, citing sources close to the case.
Societe Generale declined to comment on the report, while the PNF did not respond immediately to a Reuters request for comment.
The raids are part of a preliminary investigation led by the PNF, opened in January 2024, for "tax fraud laundering", "organized or aggravated tax fraud laundering" and "criminal conspiracy", according to the sources, Le Monde said.
Authorities are investigating the conditions under which a department of the bank was able to "propose and carry out set-ups for essentially tax purposes for the benefit of major French companies," the newspaper reported, citing a judicial source.
"The actions are likely to have been committed since 2009 in France and abroad, notably in Luxembourg."
In March 2023, French authorities searched the Paris offices of five banks, including Societe Generale, on suspicion of fiscal fraud, part of a broad European investigation into the dodging of dividend tax payments.
The PNF said at the time that the probe was linked to so-called "cum-ex" dividend stripping, a trading scheme whereby banks and investors swiftly trade shares of companies around their dividend payout day.
The practice aims to blur stock ownership and allow multiple parties to illegally claim tax rebates on dividends.
(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon and Makini Brice; Editing by Jan Harvey)
The searches were part of a preliminary investigation by the French national financial prosecutor's office into allegations of tax fraud laundering and criminal conspiracy.
Four individuals, mostly bank executives, were taken into custody during the searches conducted by the authorities.
Authorities are investigating how a department of Societe Generale proposed and executed setups for tax purposes that benefited major French companies, potentially since 2009.
The investigation is linked to the cum-ex dividend stripping scheme, which involves trading shares around dividend payouts to allow multiple parties to claim illegal tax rebates.
In March 2023, French authorities searched the offices of five banks, including Societe Generale, as part of a broader investigation into fiscal fraud related to dividend payments.
Explore more articles in the Headlines category
