Rahman Ravelli explain how Europe’s tax authorities are intensifying their Cum-Ex investigations

Securities Finance Times asked Rahman Ravelli for their input on an in-depth analysis of how European countries are seeking to recover their Cum-Ex losses.

In the article, entitled “Tax authorities step up efforts to recover Cum-Ex losses’’, Rahman Ravelli detail the work that has been done by various countries to try and regain money they lost to Cum-Ex. Cum-Ex was a controversial share-selling practice that involved tax rebates being paid out to various parties.

Rahman Ravelli’s EU business crime and regulatory practice, explain that in the last four years the Danish tax authority (SKAT) and the German authorities have been among the busiest when it comes to bringing Cum-Ex cases. 

Skat has filed more than 500 legal actions against businesses and individuals in a variety of countries as it seeks to recover the US$2 billion it says it is owed due to Cum-Ex. Germany has seen a rise in enforcement actions after successful prosecutions were confirmed in its courts. It has also been investigating more than 1,000 businesses and individuals and successfully sought the extradition from Switzerland of Hanno Berger, who is accused of using Cum-Ex to defraud German tax authorities.

In France, the tax authorities are examining large numbers of securities transactions and investigating several French banks.

Rahman Ravelli explain that one difference between France and Germany is that the threshold for establishing criminal intent is higher when having to establish criminal tax fraud under French criminal law than it is when having to prove criminal tax evasion under German law.

Rahman Ravelli's comments featured in Securities Finance Times (page 18).