Investigators and tax investigators searched offices in Frankfurt's Maintower skyscraper on Tuesday.
The aim of the raid on behalf of the Cologne public prosecutor is said to have been the German branch of the US investment bank Merrill Lynch, which is a subsidiary of Bank of America.
The reason for this is the investment bank's involvement in cum-ex stock transactions, according to the "Handelsblatt", which first reported on the process.
Marcus Young
Editor in Business.
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A spokesman for the Cologne public prosecutor's office confirmed to the FAZ that the searches against "bank institutes in Frankfurt and against an auditing company" were carried out.
In addition, the private homes of three former bank employees would be searched as suspects.
The spokesman confirmed the connection with cum-ex transactions and related tax evasion models.
The searches, in which 80 detectives, police officers, tax investigators from Frankfurt and employees of the Federal Central Tax Office were involved, served to locate e-mails and other written correspondence.
Most recently, the law enforcement agency had a subsidiary of SEB Bank searched.
Investment bank already in focus several times
The name Merrill Lynch has been mentioned several times in previous cum-ex criminal proceedings at the Bonn Regional Court.
Defendants and witnesses confirmed that the investment bank was active from London early on in the share group transactions around the dividend date.
According to a convicted fund manager, Merrill Lynch acted as a prime broker when trading Warburg Invest in 2009 and 2010.
Paul Mora also worked for Merrill Lynch in the early 2000s.
The New Zealander, who escaped criminal proceedings at the Wiesbaden District Court and is wanted by an international arrest warrant, is considered one of the central architects of cum-ex trades.