Tax scandal: Cum-Cum: Ministry of Finance sees damage of 7.5 billion

The tax fraud with CUM-CUM stock transactions cost the Treasury billions, but the processing is only progressing. This clarifies new figures from the Federal Ministry of Finance from an answer to a request from the Greens. According to this, only 81 cases were legally completed, 253 suspected cases are still being processed. The “Handelsblatt” had previously reported. In the case of 81 cases, taxes of EUR 226.7 million were claimed. With the open 253 suspected cases, the Ministry of Finance puts the possible volume at 7.3 billion euros – the previously known damage sums up to a good 7.5 billion euros. According to the Federal Government, the total damage is “not seriously estimated”.

Even greater scandal than Cum-Ex

CUM-CUM transactions are considered the big brother of the CUM-EX share dealers, with which banks and other investors bounce the German state estimated by at least ten billion euros. While CUM-EX dealt with the reimbursement of unpaid capital gains taxes, banks generated tax advantages for foreign owners of German shares at CUM-CUM deals.

The Mannheim finance scientist Christoph Spengel estimates the tax damage made of cum-cum to around 28.5 billion euros and thus more than twice as high as with Cum-Ex. According to an earlier survey by the German Financial Supervision BaFin, 54 banks admitted to being involved in Cum-Cum business. According to the financial transition, the deals ran until at least 2016.

Klingbeil wants to fight financial crime more

Federal Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil (SPD) recently announced that it would extend the retention period of booking documents to ten years again in order not to make it difficult to clarify. The traffic light coalition had shortened the deadline for eight years. Now the Ministry of Finance writes that the necessary measures to secure the tax substrate and to combat tax evasion and tax avoidance would currently be checked. This includes “in particular a possible extension of the retention periods”.

Criticism comes from Green Finance politician Katharina Beck. “Contrary to the announcement by Finance Minister Klingbeil to extend the retention periods for booking documents again, the Federal Government remains vague and vague with regard to a legal change,” Beck told the “Handelsblatt”. You can expect the Federal Government “a determined procedure to secure the evidence and all other necessary measures for effective clarification.”

First process for cum-cum expected

While some perpetrators were sentenced to some prison terms in the CUM-Ex scandal, including the key figure Hanno Berger, the first criminal trial is still pending. In March, a first indictment against five ex-ex-managers of the German Pfandbriefbank was admitted. It is not yet clear when the trial at the Wiesbaden district court begins.