Billions of Euros Later, Dividend Tax Schemes Face EU Crackdown

European regulators are cracking down on complex dividend-tax transactions after years of trades cost national treasuries tens of billions of euros and sparked probes into some of the region’s top banks.

The European Banking Authority said bank employees seeking senior management roles should be scrutinized for any role in dividend-arbitrage, which includes so-called Cum-Ex transactions at the center of a European Union-wide scandal, and other trades known as Cum-Cum. The deals may have cost taxpayers some 55 billion euros ($60 billion) between 2001 and 2012, according to the European Parliament.

Bank supervisors were told to investigate the trades in ...