Commerzbank to close accounts of 400 Luxembourg clients - report
The Luxembourg arm of Germany's Commerzbank (CBKG.DE) is closing the accounts of 400 customers suspected of tax evasion after prosecutors launched an investigation into Germany's second biggest bank last month, media reported on Tuesday. The 400 customers failed to respond to repeated appeals by the bank to report themselves to the tax authorities, according to the report by the Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily and the WDR and NDR regional broadcasters. The report said Commerzbank would end services for the accounts from April 30 and block credit cards, while safety deposit boxes must be cleared as soon as possible and loans repaid by May 15. The report said Commerzbank Luxembourg managed billions of euros in 19,250 customer accounts in 2008, when the bank decided to stop its offshore business, but that number has since fallen to around 4,000.
