Rabobank has played a major role helping US companies save huge sums on their taxes, according to an investigation by the Wall Street Journal.

The paper says the bank has not been accused of any wrong doing by the US authorities, but says it’s role has been ‘extensive, involving billions of dollars in financing for transactions that generated tax benefits for the likes of General Electric Merck & Co and others.’
The paper says that some of the companies Rabobank helped such as GE and Merck have been forced to give up some tax savings. Other tax deals are being reviewed by the justice department as part of a broader tax-shelter investigation and the US tax office (IRS) is looking at a Rabobank-funded deal for drug wholesaler Cardinal Health.
The authorities were alerted by former Rabobank finance specialist Joseph Insinga, the paper says. He told the US tax authorities last year Rabobank had financed more than 100 tax shelters on behalf of US companies and others between 1997 and 2004.
For the full WSJ story, click here