California investigators are trying to determine if a major international investment bank that´s the target of a conflict of interest investigation intentionally erased approximately 50,000 e-mails.

The Department of Corporations has hired an information technology firm, Zantaz Incorporated of Pleasanton, to examine computer tapes to see if the missing Deutsche Bank e-mails are recoverable and if there´s any indication they were erased intentionally.

A spokeswoman for the bank issued a statement saying the failure to release all of the e-mails was inadvertent and that the company has cooperated fully with regulators.

California has been investigating Deutsche Bank as part of a probe by federal and state regulators to determine if Wall Street firms gave biased ratings on stocks to attract additional business.