Investing.com - The European financial sector was on the backfoot in midday trade on Thursday, as Deutsche Bank shares approached their lowest level on record amid news that German police conducted a search of its offices on money laundering allegations.
The pan-European Stoxx 600 Bank Index (SX7P) was down by around 0.5% by 6:35AM ET (1135GMT).
Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) shares were off more than 3% in Frankfurt following news that roughly 170 criminal police officers, prosecutors and tax inspectors searched six of its offices in and around Frankfurt.
Investigators are probing the activities of two Deutsche Bank staff members who are alleged to have helped clients set up off-shore firms to launder money, the Frankfurt public prosecutor's office said.
Deutsche Bank confirmed the search, adding that it is fully cooperating with the authorities.
The worrying news also had an impact on shares of rival Commerzbank (DE:CBKG), which fell about 1%.
Italian lenders also contributed to the sector's downbeat performance, with Unicredit (MI:CRDI) and Intesa Sanpaolo (MI:ISP) dropping 1.5% and 1.2% respectively as investors continued to monitor developments surrounding Italy's budget crisis.