GERMANY: Officials search KfW state bank in funds transfer probe

Record ID: 560523

  • Title: GERMANY: Officials search KfW state bank in funds transfer probe
  • Date: 22nd October 2008
  • Summary: (BN10) FRANKFURT, GERMANY (OCTOBER 22, 2008) (REUTERS) EXTERIOR OF THE KFW BANK HEADQUARTERS SIGN FOR KFW BANK CAR LEAVING THE HEADQUARTERS VARIOUS EXTERIORS OF BANK PEOPLE WALKING INTO BANK MAN SITTING INSIDE BANK POLICE CAR DRIVING INTO ENTRANCE KFW LOGO POLICE CAR LEAVING THE BANK JOURNALISTS WAITING IN FRONT OF BANK
  • Embargoed: 6th November 2008 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Germany
  • Country: Germany
  • Topics: Finance
  • Reuters ID: LVA1GLMWGLKRNVH2UNRR2586FOQD
  • Story Text: German authorities raided the offices of state bank KfW on Wednesday (October 22) probing KfW's transfer of funds to Lehman Brothers after the U.S.
    bank had filed for bankruptcy protection, Frankfurt prosecutors said.
    Prosecutors said ina statement that the aim of the investigation was to determine whether the responsible parties at KfW violated their legal obligations to safeguard assets by failing to block the transfer of funds on September 15, 2008 despite knowledge of signs of liquidity problems at Lehman Brothers and against the background of an emerging international banking crisis.
    Prosecutors in Frankfurt, Germany's financial hub, and federal investigators took part in the raid at the bank, which provides finance for small and mid-sized companies, infrastructure and development projects, and trade deals.
    Frankfurt-based KfW was co-operating with the probe into the transfer of 319 million euros ($420.7 million), it said.
    KfW has said it mistakenly transferred the funds to Lehman as part of a swap agreement in which two counterparties agree to exchange one stream of cash flow against another stream.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
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