Swiss probe bank J. Safra Sarasin in Petrobras-Odebrecht complex

ZURICH (Reuters) - Swiss federal prosecutors said they had initiated proceedings against private bank J. Safra Sarasin as part of a wide-ranging corruption probe of Brazilian state oil company Petrobras <PETR4.SA> and construction firm Odebrecht.

The Office of the Attorney General opened proceedings against the bank in November 2018, it said in an emailed statement on Thursday, on suspicions that weaknesses in its internal organisation had failed to prevent complicity in bribery of foreign officials and aggravated money laundering.

J. Safra Sarasin had no immediate comment.

(Reporting by Emma Frage, additional reporting by and Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi; Editing by Michael Shields)