Clearstream affair

The Clearstream affair was a political scandal in France in the run-up to the 2007 presidential election.

The name refers to the Luxembourg bank Clearstream Banking S.A, now wholly owned by Deutsche Börse, which was alleged to have aided many prominent French politicians and companies in evading taxes. It was also suggested that Clearstream might have helped French individuals and companies to launder money arising from bribes surrounding the 1991 sale of six La Fayette-class frigates to Taiwan (see Taiwan frigate scandal). Clearstream denied the allegations.