Bankers from the Royal Bank of Scotland have been arrested as part of an ongoing probe into an alleged tax fraud, it has emerged.
The arrests included four current employees and one former employee from the Edinburgh-based bank.
They were arrested at their homes across London and the Home Counties on Wednesday.
The HMRC said the allegations related to the financial affairs of the individuals, rather than the activity of the bank.
An HMRC spokeswoman said: "As a result of an ongoing HMRC investigation into tax-related criminal offences, HMRC has arrested
a number of people, some of whom work for UK banks.
"This investigation relates to the actions of the people arrested in relation to their own financial affairs and is not connected to the business activities of the banks."