The Financial Times has reported that the business at the core of Deutsche Bank's latest money laundering probe was small and was earmarked for sale since early 2016,

Last week, over 170 police officers, prosecutors and tax inspectors raided Deutsche Bank's Frankfurt headquarters.

The Financial times states that back in 2016, the bank put its Global Trust Solutions up for sale. The bank had, at the time, run trusts in low-tax jurisdictions, the Financial Times report reads.

The Financial Times report highlights that the German bank had announced a deal to sell this unit to Bermuda-based lender N.T. Butterfield & Son in October 2017. The sale was completed last March.

The Financial times says that one of the Global Trust Solutions legal entities was dubbed Regula Ltd, which is allegedly at the centre of an ongoing money-laundering investigation. The Financial Times highlights that German authorities suspect that Deutsche Bank clients transferred funds linked to illegal activity into offshore accounts.

The Associated Press previously reported the raid, and said that: "Prosecutors say information from analysis of documents leaked from tax havens in recent years, including the 2016 'Panama Papers,' prompted their investigation."

The Associated Press had said that two employees, aged 50 and 46, are currently under investigation for allegedly failing to report suspicious transactions but prosecutors say the investigation could broaden.

The Panama Papers had sparked investigations around the world into different entities and also resulted in the resignation of politicians.

Malta has been in the spotlight since the Panama Papers revelations, with Minister Konrad Mizzi and OPM Chief of Staff Keith Schembri being the two highest Maltese public figures featuring. They still hold top posts till today, and the recent revelations regarding the ownership of 17 Black has strengthened calls for their immediate removal.