- Chechen welcomes CDU politicians in Cum-Ex-PUA
Hamburg's Mayor Peter Tschentscher does not expect groundbreaking insights from the expanded Cum-Ex investigative committee focused on the former HSH Nordbank, but welcomes the planned testimony of former CDU mayors and finance senators. "It's quite appropriate that the responsible CDU members of the Senate at the time explain how Cum-Ex deals could have been made under their watch," said the SPD politician to the German Press Agency. After all, they bore the political responsibility.
According to the current plans of the investigative committee, not only Tschentscher and the former mayor and current Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) will be questioned, but also the CDU predecessors Ole von Beust and Christoph Ahlhaus, as well as the former CDU finance senator Wolfgang Peiner and the former CDU minister president of Schleswig-Holstein, Peter Harry Carstensen. Also, North Rhine-Westphalia's Minister President Hendrik Wüst (CDU) is to be summoned as a witness. The committee hopes to gain information from him about the status of the clarification of Cum-Ex deals at the WestLB.
HSH Nordbank paid back 126 million euros in taxes
The HSH Nordbank had obtained capital gains tax refunds in 29 cases between 2008 and 2011 through Cum-Ex deals, although the taxes had not been paid in the first place. This was found in an investigation by the law firm Clifford Chance. The cases were reported to the public prosecutor's office and around 126 million euros were paid back to the tax office in 2014. The bank had announced this. At the end of 2018, the then state bank of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein was sold to US investors at the request of the EU Commission and renamed Hamburg Commercial Bank (HCOB) after privatization.
Tschentscher dismissed hints from the opposition that CDU government officials could not say anything about the proceedings because the deals only became known years after their term of office. The HSH Nordbank had been saved with billions in tax money from Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein. "In such a phase, a supervisory board chairman and CDU finance senator should ensure a thorough review of the business model." Instead, Cum-Ex deals were made by the HSH Nordbank at that very time. "That's scandalous and one should take political responsibility for it."
Tschentscher: Expansion of the committee's mandate is an opposition maneuver
Ultimately, the then Schleswig-Holstein finance minister Monika Heinold (Greens) and he in his then capacity as finance senator had supported the new management in 2013 in clarifying and resolving the Cum-Ex deals from the CDU's time in government. The approach and results were presented in detail to the committees at the time. "Therefore, this is an opposition maneuver, but it has nothing to do with clarifying factual questions," said Tschentscher regarding the expansion of the investigative committee's mandate to include the HSH Nordbank.
The expansion of the investigative committee's mandate includes calling former CDU officials, such as Ole von Beust, Christoph Ahlhaus, Wolfgang Peiner, and Peter Harry Carstensken, to testify about their roles in approving Cum-Ex deals while in office, as they held political responsibility for the bank's actions during their tenure.
Given that the HSH Nordbank, which was previously a state bank in Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein, paid back 126 million euros in taxes due to Cum-Ex deals, it's crucial for these former CDU officials to provide clarification on their roles to ensure accountability and prevent similar issues in the future.
