Some 170 prosecutors, state police, national police and tax investigators were involved in the morning searches of six buildings in Frankfurt, and in nearby Eschborn and Gross-Umstadt, Niesen said.

Police cars were seen outside the tower blocks that house the headquarters of Germany's biggest bank.

Written and electronic business documents were seized from Deutsche Bank and further investigations are ongoing, it added.

The raid was reportedly spurred by information garnered from the Panama Papers - the 2015 document leak that revealed how wealthy global figures hide their riches via offshore bank accounts and shady shell companies.

Deutsche Bank shares slid sharply after the news broke, and were down 3.75 percent in midday trading in Frankfurt.

Deutsche Bank confirmed the raids and said it was "fully cooperating" with the authorities.

Deutsche Bank has also come under scrutiny over its activities as a correspondent for scandal-plagued Danske Bank, Denmark's largest lender.

There was no indication that Thursday's raid was linked to that scandal, though Deutsche Bank says that it has since stopped providing dollar transactions in some countries, including Latvia.

Whistleblower and former employee Howard Wilkinson has indicated that Danske Bank's management was aware of what was going on at the branch, which was among the bank's most profitable units.

And now it seems more allegations have been put against the banks.

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After that Deutsche said it had terminated its relationship with Danske in 2015 after "identifying suspicious activity".

Deutsche Bank has been sanctioned in the past for failing to tackle money laundering.

The news comes as Deutsche Bank tries to fix its tattered reputation after three years of losses and a drumbeat of financial and regulatory scandals.

Deutsche Bank has been under pressure after annual losses, and it agreed to pay a $7.2 billion settlement with USA authorities previous year over its sale of toxic mortgage securities in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis.

Under the scheme, clients illegally moved $10bn out of Russian Federation via shares bought and sold through the bank's Moscow, London and NY offices.

And it's not the first time Deutsche Bank has run into trouble over the flow of dirty money.

Pre-tax profits for the three months to September fell 45% to €506m compared with the same period past year.

Christian Sewing, appointed chief executive in April to help the bank rebuild, has trimmed its US operations and reshuffled its management board, but revenue has continued to slip.

However, investors have yet to be been won over by his efforts and Deutsche shares have halved this year.