Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1058684
maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 5 DECEMBER 2018 4 NEWS MATTHEW VELLA LABOUR MEP Alfred Sant has laid in the European Commission for its mild condemnation of the major banks involved in the so-called Cum Ex scandal. Sant told the European Parlia- ment that if banks from Cyprus, Greece or Malta had been in- volved in the Cum Ex scandal the ongoing naming and shaming pro- ceedings would not have been so mild "as it was with banks in the larger member states involved in this scandal." The Cum Ex scandal revealed that an organised group of bankers had stolen over €55 billion from the public funds of several Mem- ber States, notably France and Germany, over the past 15 years through the so-called Cum-Ex deals. It was revealed that bankers, lawyers and other intermediaries were trading shares and receiving tax reimbursements for tax that had never been paid. For the last few years, German authorities have been investigat- ing hundreds of the tax fraud cas- es, where banks and stockbrokers rapidly traded shares with ("cum") and without ("ex") dividend rights, with the aim of being able to con- ceal the identity of the actual own- er and allow both parties to claim tax rebates on capital gains tax that had only been paid once. At least 10 other European coun- tries beyond Germany have been affected by the tax fraud prac- tices, and the damage caused to state treasuries could be as high as €55.2 billion. Spain's Santander bank is the lat- est big lender to be caught up in the scandal. According to the con- fidential documents released to the media organisations, Cologne prosecutors opened an investiga- tion into Santander's role in June and have determined that they were involved in carrying out the trades. A letter from German prosecu- tors to Santander's lawyers shows that they suspect the bank of hav- ing "planned and executed trades" that facilitated "severe tax eva- sion" from 2007 through 2011. The scandal came to light in 2016 when it emerged that several Ger- man banks had exploited a legal loophole which allowed two par- ties simultaneously to claim own- ership of the same shares. Sant has abstained on the reso- lution 'The Cum Ex Scandal: fi- nancial crime and the loopholes in the current legal framework', while fully agreeing with the need to curb all abuse of tax reimburse- ment schemes. "Problems arise when the fore- seen measures to end these prac- tices go beyond their objective and are used as a pretext to introduce tax harmonisation. Enhancing tax transparency and exchange of in- formation in this field must be seen and must be implemented as a proportionate solution in the context to which it applies, as well as in its effects," Sant told the EP. "Member States must be left with their full tax sovereignty. Indeed, given its potential impact on the integrity of financial markets, the future Directive on Administra- tive Cooperation in the field of taxation should include transpar- ent exchange of information on tax refunds and dividend arbi- trage." Sant berates Commission for mild reaction to €55 billion theft Cum Ex scandal A man who allegedly damaged a number of ve- hicles whilst drunk and then insulted police has pleaded not guilty to related charges. Taxi driver Alex Bonnici, 28, from Qormi, was accused of five counts of voluntary damage to parked vehicles in Misrah Bandolier in Zejtun and with insulting and disobeying police offic- ers. The incident occurred early on Monday at around 1.30am. He was arraigned before magistrate Neville Camilleri yesterday by Inspector Roderick At- tard. Bonnici was also charged with being drunk and incapable of taking care of himself in a pub- lic place and with breaching the peace. The accused informed the court that he would be contesting the charges, pleading not guilty. "Maybe he had one drink too many," conceded lawyer Franco Debono, "but here we are talking about voluntary damage, not serious charges." He asked the court to grant the man bail. The prosecution said it would not object to bail as long as the conditions imposed were strin- gent. Inspector Attard did not ask for a curfew in view of the man's job, but insisted that he be made to sign a bail book regularly. After considering the facts, the charges and the law, the court upheld the request for bail. Bonnici was ordered to sign a bail book twice a week and secure his release with a deposit of €500 and a personal guarantee of €5,000. Qormi man charged with damaging five vehicles while drunk