Investigation committee - Hearings started on "cum-ex" scandal at HSH Nordbank
The Parliamentary Investigative Committee (PUA) of the Hamburg Parliament on the "Cum-Ex" Scandal has entered the examination phase at the complex of the former state-owned HSH Nordbank. Seven witnesses and witnesses were summoned – five from the Finance Office for Large Corporations and two from the Hamburg Public Prosecutor's Office.
Initially, they did not provide groundbreaking insights. The committee had originally only investigated possible political influence on the tax case of the Hamburg Warburg Bank implicated in the scandal. Due to pressure from the opposition, it had been expanded at the end of 2022 to include other "Cum-Ex" cases.
The HSH Nordbank had compensated for capital gains taxes that had not been paid before in 29 cases between 2008 and 2011. This was revealed in an investigation by the law firm Clifford Chance, which was commissioned by the bank itself. The cases were reported to the prosecution and about 126 million euros were returned to the tax office in 2014, the bank reported.
At the end of 2018, the former Landesbank of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein was sold to US investors on the instructions of the EU Commission and renamed Hamburg Commercial Bank (HCOB).
Prosecutor: No influence was exerted
A civil servant from the Finance Office for Large Corporations, who was commissioned in mid-2013 to audit the HSH Nordbank for the years 2008 to 2011, testified that the bank had been very cooperative. At the same time, he pointed out that the audit was conducted with relatively few personnel. "With a three-billion euro balance sheet total, 1.6 full-time equivalents are certainly not sufficient," he said. Normally, it would be 1.9 to 2.0 full-time positions.
A Hamburg Senior Public Prosecutor emphasized: "No influence was exerted on my decisions." The fact that the Hamburg Public Prosecutor's Office did not initiate its own investigations at first was due to the fact that the Cologne Public Prosecutor's Office had already taken up investigations and double investigations were not allowed, another prosecutor explained.
In the course of the hearings, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is expected to testify a third time before the committee. The former Hamburg Mayor had previously testified in two previous hearings in connection with Warburg Bank matters and had repeatedly stated that he could not remember but could exclude political influence.
The committee was originally set up in 2020 to clarify possible political influence on the tax treatment of the Hamburg Private Bank by leading SPD politicians. In the background were three meetings between the then Mayor Scholz and Warburg partners Christian Olearius and Max Warburg in 2016 and 2017, which Scholz only confirmed later. Against Olearius, investigations had already been initiated at the time due to suspicion of serious tax evasion.
After the first meetings, the Finance Administration, contrary to initial plans, waived the demands for the repayment of 47 million euros in unjustly paid capital gains tax against the bank – and allowed these to run out of statute of limitations. An additional 43 million euros were demanded in 2017 on instructions from the Federal Ministry of Finance just before the statute of limitations expired.
Evaluations in the PUA-Interim Report differ significantly
In January of this year, the committee passed its interim report on the Warburg complex. Representatives of government parties and the opposition came to contrasting assessments: SPD and Greens still see no evidence of political influence. CDU, Left, and AfD evaluated indications as evidence that both Scholz and his then Finance Senator and later successor Peter Tschentscher (SPD) exerted influence.
Regarding the HSH Nordbank complex, SPD and Greens want to question a series of prominent active or former CDU politicians as witnesses, such as the former mayors Ole von Beust and Christoph Ahlhaus, ex-Finance Senator Wolfgang Peiner, the former Schleswig-Holstein government head Peter Harry Carstensen, and the current North Rhine-Westphalia Minister President Hendrik Wüst (CDU). They hope to obtain information from him about the progress of the "Cum-Ex" business clarification at WestLB.
CDU: Influence would only have been possible after 2013
From the CDU opposition's perspective, this is unacceptable. Because the "Cum-Ex" business of HSH Nordbank only became known in 2013. Some of the named witnesses were no longer in office at that time. Political influence could only have occurred after the disclosure. Whether the committee can complete its work in this legislative period is questionable. At the beginning of March of the coming year, Hamburg city elections are scheduled.
- The Parliamentary Investigative Committee (PUA) in Hamburg is currently examining the "Cum-Ex" Scandal at the former state-owned HSH Nordbank, summonsing witnesses from both the Finance Office for Large Corporations and the Hamburg Public Prosecutor's Office.
- Initially, the committee focused on potential political influence on the tax case of the Hamburg Warburg Bank, but expanded its investigation due to opposition pressure at the end of 2022.
- HSH Nordbank compensated for unpaid capital gains taxes in 29 cases between 2008 and 2011, as revealed in an investigation by Clifford Chance, and returned about 126 million euros to the tax office in 2014.
- The EU Commission instructed the sale of HSH Nordbank to US investors in late 2018, rebranding it as Hamburg Commercial Bank (HCOB).
- A civil servant testified that the bank was cooperative during the audit, but noted the inadequate number of personnel for a balance sheet total of three billion euros.
- The Hamburg Public Prosecutor's Office argued that no influence was exerted on its decisions, and the failure to initiate investigations earlier was due to double investigations not being allowed.
- Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) is expected to testify before the committee for a third time, having previously stated he could not remember but excluded political influence.
- The committee was initially set up to investigate political influence on the tax treatment of the Hamburg Private Bank by leading SPD politicians, but is now also investigating the HSH Nordbank complex.
- The CDU opposes questioning certain witnesses regarding the HSH Nordbank complex, as they were not in office when the "Cum-Ex" business was exposed in 2013, making political influence unlikely.
