German Government Searches Merrill Lynch and Other Firms for Assisting in Tax Crimes

On June 8, 1995, German officials for the first time conducted a search of a foreign bank, Merrill Lynch International Bank Ltd., the U.S. investment bank maintained by Merrill Lynch, on suspicion of helping German investors to commit tax offenses through transfer of money to tax havens abroad. According to German tax authorities in Frankfurt, a search occurred of five German offices and the homes of investment advisers. The searches are part of a concerted effort by German tax authorities to find evidence of tax evasion and scare corporate tax advisers into not assisting German residents to evade tax...(more)