Steuerskandal: Hamburg übernimmt den Cum-Ex-Fall HSH Nordbank

In Hamburg, prosecutors are investigating a tax scandal involving former HSH Nordbank officials. The Hamburg State Attorney's Office confirmed there are 26 accused individuals. Oberstaatsanwältin Mia Sperling-Karstens stated that the investigations cover both suspected Cum-Ex transactions and Cum-Cum structures. The state attorney did not disclose the name of the bank, but revealed that a Cum-Ex procedure has been transferred to Hamburg from Cologne as of September 8, 2023.

This is the first time the complex of cases has been included in a single file. The issue is larger than initially thought. The first complex of transactions was known since 2013, where the bank conducted 30 Cum-Ex transactions, earning 111.6 million Euros from the government. After an internal investigation, the bank made a 127 million Euro provision in the 2013 financial year and arranged for repayment.

The former CEO Constantin von Oesterreich later called these transactions "embarrassing." The 127 million Euros represented taxes and interest totaling 2500 times the amount considered a particularly serious case by legal precedent. However, the scope of tax evasion in the former Landesbank may have been even greater. A suspicion check report from April 21, 2023, found that HSH Nordbank between 2003 and 2012 conducted Cum-Cum transactions and possibly received refunds of over 275 million Euros for taxes they were not entitled to.

The process involved foreign investors transferring their shares around the ex-dividend date to German institutions, who then paid taxes they were not due and shared the profits. The Hamburg State Attorney's Office has been aware of the Cum-Ex case for years, with a report from Clifford Chance in 2014 being forwarded to the Hamburg State Attorney.

However, their response was reluctant. "Observation activities" were initiated, but no investigations took place in Hamburg. Three years later, the Hamburg State Attorney's Office received the HSH case during another investigation and initiated a procedure. Since November 28, 2018, the bank has been sold to financial investors, and is now known as Hamburg Commercial Bank.