“Cum-Ex investigator” goes on trial again in Zurich in December
Published: Tuesday, Oct 15th 2024, 15:30
Volver a Live Feed
The case of the German lawyer Eckart Seith, who became known as the "Cum-Ex investigator", will be tried again in Switzerland. According to the Zurich High Court, the trial will take place on December 9.
One day has been reserved for the trial for the time being. It remains to be seen when the High Court will hand down its verdict. Seith is charged with economic espionage and offenses against the Banking Act because he obtained internal documents from Bank J. Safra Sarasin and passed them on to German investigators.
The issues of tax fraud and banking secrecy have repeatedly caused irritation between Switzerland and Germany in recent years. While Seith is on trial in Switzerland, in Germany he is regarded as a whistleblower who contributed to uncovering the cum-ex scandal.
The German state suffered billions in losses as a result of cum-ex transactions. Around the dividend record date, investors shifted shares with ("cum") and without ("ex") dividend entitlement back and forth between several parties. In the end, it was no longer clear to the tax authorities who actually owned the shares.
Drugstore king Müller sues Sarasin
German tax offices refunded withholding tax that had never been paid. The Swiss bank J. Safra Sarasin had also sold its clients financial products based on this loophole. This was closed in 2012.
One of Sarasin's clients was the German drugstore king Erwin Müller. He lost millions when the Sarasin fund collapsed. He then accused the bank of having given him bad advice and sued it for compensation with the help of lawyer Eckart Seith and internal bank documents from Switzerland.
The Ulm Regional Court finally ruled in his favor. It sentenced the bank to pay damages of 45 million euros in 2017. In July 2021, the German Federal Court of Justice ruled that cum-ex transactions constituted tax evasion. Since then, they have been considered a criminal offense.
©Keystone/SDA
Spanish 
English 
German 
French 
Arabic