Deutsche Bank Offices Raided in Money Laundering Probe
Deutsche Bank's offices in Frankfurt and Berlin were raided Wednesday as part of a money laundering investigation, according to the Office of the Federal Prosecutor. The investigation, which involves the Federal Criminal Police Office, is targeting "unknown individuals and employees" at Germany's largest bank, the BBC reported.
The prosecutor's office stated that Deutsche Bank had "maintained business relationships in the past with foreign companies" suspected of being used for money laundering. A Deutsche Bank spokesperson confirmed the searches to the BBC. Officials declined to comment further on the specifics of the investigation.
This news comes as other significant events are unfolding in the technology and business sectors. Amazon confirmed it would cut 16,000 jobs globally after an email detailing the redundancies was mistakenly sent to staff, according to the BBC. The email, which was intended to inform employees in the US, Canada, and Costa Rica of their layoffs, was shared in error on Tuesday. Beth Galetti, senior vice president of people experience and technology at Amazon, said on Wednesday that the cuts were part of a plan to "remove bureaucracy" at the firm, the BBC reported.
In other news, Pornhub announced it will restrict access to its website in the UK starting next week, citing the tougher age verification requirements introduced by the UK's Online Safety Act (OSA). Aylo, Pornhub's parent company, stated that the OSA "had not achieved its goal of protecting minors" and had "diverted traffic to darker, unregulated corners of the internet," the BBC reported. Only users with existing Pornhub accounts will be able to access content after February 2. In October, Aylo reported that the law change had caused traffic to the website to fall by 77%. Ofcom, the regulator, said at the time that tougher age checks were fulfilling their purpose.
Meanwhile, the US Federal Reserve voted to hold interest rates steady on Wednesday, despite pressure from the White House to lower borrowing costs, according to the BBC. The Fed said it will keep its key lending rate between 3.5 to 3.75, stating that economic activity in the US "has been expanding at a solid pace". Policymakers are continuing to monitor the effect on the economy of three interest cuts last year.
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