French investigators raided five major banks on Tuesday as part of a massive tax fraud investigation, the French financial prosecutor’s office said.

The office said in a statement that about 150 investigators from the French Finance Ministry, 16 French judges and six German prosecutors conducted searches in and around Paris, in a case suspected of depriving the authorities of more than 100 billion euros ($108 billion) in tax revenues.

The French newspaper “Le Monde” mentioned that the targeted banks are “Societe Generale”, “BNP Paribas (EPA: BNPP)”, “Exane” (a subsidiary of BNP), “Natixis” and “HSBC (LON: HSBA). “. These banks face collective fines of more than 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion) as part of a tax fraud and money laundering investigation related to the dividend payments.

The raids related to the dividend arbitrage strategy, whereby shareholders transferred shares for a short period to overseas-based investors to avoid dividend tax. Investors held the shares for the period in which the dividend was paid and either were not taxed or the taxes were refunded. Then they sold the securities back to the original owner and the saved amount was divided between the two parties.

The news adds to negative sentiment about the banking industry in both the US and Europe, where investors have been hit by the emergency rescue of Credit Suisse and regulators’ seizure of Silicon Valley Bank. Where the banking sector around the world is facing a state of uncertainty, especially after the sudden collapse of banks in the United States, and the subsequent rescue attempts of a European bank.

Investors and ordinary individuals are witnessing the turmoil of the banking sector so that they find themselves facing difficult choices, as protecting their money and the liquidity they possess has become the highest priority.