The headquarters of Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt was raided by investigators on Friday over a money laundering-related investigation into the German banking giant.

Officers from the BKA federal police, the financial watchdog BaFin and the prosecutor's office in Frankfurt were "deployed" at the scene, they said.

The raid was linked to "suspicious activity reports filed by the bank" in relation to money laundering, Deutsche Bank said in a statement, adding that it was cooperating with authorities.

Bank employees are obliged by law to immediately report any suspicion that customers are trying to launder funds from criminal transactions or transactions related to terrorist financing.

Deutsche Bank has in recent years been closely watched by financial authorities in relation to suspicious transactions.

BaFin in 2021 called on management at the lender to redouble their efforts to tackle money laundering activities.

Investigators searched Deutsche Bank's headquarters in 2019 for failing to report possibly illicit money flows.

The Frankfurt-based group also came under scrutiny for its role as a correspondence bank that handled foreign transactions for Danske's Estonian branch, at the center of a 200 billion euro ($212 billion) money-laundering affair between 2007 and 2015.

Deutsche Bank subsequently agreed to pay a fine of 13.5 million euros for failing to report suspicious activity quickly enough, after an investigation by Frankfurt prosecutors.

Deutsche Bank shares fell on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange after the news was reported by local media, dropping roughly 3% to just under 9.34 euros.

Under Chief Executive Christian Sewing, Deutsche Bank has been trying to repair its reputation after a series of embarrassing and costly regulatory failings.

Earlier this week, the bank posted a better-than-expected 17% rise in first-quarter profit as investment banking revenues climbed, but it warned that the Russia-Ukraine conflict could hurt annual earnings.