Commerzbank – A Case for bear and fox – Süddeutsche.de

Now it is also true Commerzbank: The prosecutor under investigation for deals at the expense of taxpayers. Ironically. The Institute was rescued in the crisis with billions.

Authorities in Hesse are not only stubborn when it comes to alleged tax offenses large scale, but also imaginative. The Treasury and the Attorney General’s Office Frankfurt have formed Special Deals share at the expense of the state special investigation teams, the times bear and fox and sometimes even hot quite different. They take care of cases where banks and their partners should have the tax authorities severely cheated

Now, another case is added. The Commerzbank. Also, the second largest German financial institution is now under suspicion of having helped dividend when trading shares with (cum) and without (ex) to exempt the treasury. With tricky deals where banks and funds is a tax paid only once did report several times. With the deal, in which the agencies long not mitbekamen what ran. And where the state has a legal loophole that made such transactions is technically possible, but did not allow the investigator’s opinion, late closed.

Ironically Commerzbank. A financial institution, which was rescued by the German government with 18 billion euros during the great banking crisis in the past decade, with control means so. And now is not noticeable for the first time with transactions in which taxpayers were harmed or alleged to have been damaged. Commerzbank was searched in February 2015 from the Cologne public prosecutor. The Luxembourg subsidiary had previously numerous customers conveys shell companies in Panama. There the clients could hide assets from the state. After this had been compromised, cooperated Commerzbank with the authorities and received the end of 2015 because of tax evasion an administrative penalty of 17 million, the accepted the financial institution.

In about this time gave the Board an investigation in order which now led to the procedure under the General Prosecutor. Commerzbank settled by light from the Wirtschaftsprüfgesellschaft PwC to see if one was involved in questionable Cum Ex Deals. The auditors came across suspicious equity transactions. should be Gelaufen the deal until 2008; approximately up to rescue the bank by the state, the forced boarding then and today is a major shareholder and holds 15 percent of shares. Now, the state bank is under suspicion of having previously harmed the state. After all, the financial institution has informed the Frankfurt financial and law enforcement agencies about the interim results of PwC.

Now the Commerzbank is a case for bear and fox. The Institute does not comment on the investigation. That would come a few years earlier and for Commerzbank perhaps may already be completed even if the institution would not react so late. pursue that prosecutors and tax investigators such stock deal, since the end of 2012 is known. At that time the HypoVereinsbank in Munich was searched by the Attorney General’s Office Frankfurt. Commerzbank would have had good reason to check their own cum ex Deals. But it could be so many years time. So until they came because of the Panama business under pressure and finally decided, including work up possible tax offenses.

The Institute is still applied another wrinkle

Really comprehensively? Also there are doubts. Commerzbank will also be implicated in the so-called Cum-Cum-shops. These exchange deals, it was not about the government taking away money that is already in the state coffers. Tax theft, so to speak, where judicial would see that. In Cum Cum it was more concerned the state withholding tax normally payable on dividends. The loss to the Treasury is to go into the billions here. The trick in cum Cum: By shuffling of shares between home and abroad, before and after the dividend payment, to have banks and investors actually due fees avoided. And they should have the profit at the expense of the state after split.

Unlike Cum-Ex, the Federal Ministry of Finance, however, at its presentation at Cum-Cum yet no evidence of criminal activity. You think, according to the ministry, such transactions nevertheless for “illegitimate because its only purpose is to circumvent the lawful taxation of dividends”. Cum Cum, so the interpretation of the Ministry, should therefore be different from Cum-Ex only offensive, but not illegal. Whether prosecutors as those in Frankfurt feel the same way remains to be seen. It would not be surprising, would bear and fox and other investigation teams to cum Ex examine Cum Cum now. To clarify whether also criminal proceedings would be appropriate.

In addition to bear and fox consist in Frankfurt further investigation teams called Duplo I and Duplo II. They are also investigating the Hypo-Vereinsbank (HVB), which, unlike the Commerzbank, has long placed all the authorities open.