"Cum-Ex" fraud case's witness proceedings commence at HSH Nordbank

Membership in a state or nation - "Cum-Ex" fraud case's witness proceedings commence at HSH Nordbank

The Parliamentary Investigation Committee (PUA) of the Hamburg Parliament on the Cum-Ex Scandal will kick off on July 5th by interrogating the ex-state-run HSH Nordbank complex. Scheduled dates for these interrogations go up to December. First up, they'll be questioning staff from the Hamburg Finance Office for Large Companies and the Finance Authority.

Down the line, current and former political figures, including Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Hamburg's Mayor Peter Tschentscher (both SPD), their predecessors Ole von Beust and Christoph Ahlhaus, as well as the former Finance Senator Wolfgang Peiner and the former Minister President of Schleswig-Holstein, Peter Harry Carstensen (all CDU), will testify.

SPD and the Greens had requested to be heard about the "Cum-Ex" matters concerning the now privatized HSH Nordbank. North Rhine-Westphalia's Minister President Hendrik Wüst (CDU) is also slated to appear. Hopefully, he'll provide insights into the progress of the "Cum-Ex" cases at WestLB.

In the past, the HSH Nordbank had reimbursed itself for unpaid capital gains taxes in 29 instances between 2008 and 2011. This discovery was made by an investigation conducted by the law firm Clifford Chance, commissioned by the bank itself. The cases were handed over to the prosecutor's office, and in 2014, €126 million was returned to the tax authorities, according to the bank's statement.

At the end of 2018, the former state bank of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein was sold under EU Commission's orders to U.S. investors, who renamed it the Hamburg Commercial Bank (HCOB).

Reps from the HCOB will face the "Cum-Ex" Committee as well. The initial mandate given to the PUA was limited to checking for any political influence in the tax case of the Cum-Ex-tied Hamburg Warburg Bank. On the insistence of the opposition, its scope was widened at the end of 2022 to include other "Cum-Ex" cases.

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1. The Parliamentary Investigation Committee (PUA) will first interrogate staff from the Hamburg Finance Office for Large Companies and the Finance Authority at HSH Nordbank.
2. Christoph Ahlhaus, a former political figure, is among those who will testify before the PUA regarding the Cum-Ex Scandal.
3. The ex-state-run HSH Nordbank has been under scrutiny due to reimbursing itself for unpaid capital gains taxes in 29 instances between 2008 and 2011.
4. The CDU's Ole von Beust and Peter Harry Carstensen, as well as the SPD's Peter Tschentscher and Olaf Scholz, are also expected to provide testimony before the PUA.
5. The initial mandate of the PUA was focused on checking for political influence in the tax case of the Cum-Ex-tied Hamburg Warburg Bank, but its scope was expanded in late 2022 to include other "Cum-Ex" cases.
6. The Hamburg Commercial Bank (HCOB), the new owners of the HSH Nordbank, will also face the PUA's scrutiny.
7. The questionable practices at HSH Nordbank were uncovered through an investigation conducted by the law firm Clifford Chance and were later handed over to the prosecutor's office.
8. The PUA's examination of witnesses and institutions related to the Cum-Ex fraud case continues at HSH Nordbank for several months, with the first session taking place on July 5th.

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