Apparently, KPMG Law was late in recognizing that one of its partners was no longer tenable.
(Photo: Reuters)
Cologne It’s over again after less than six months: KPMG Law Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft and a partner who will only be committed on September 1, 2022 are going their separate ways. “We’re sorry, the page was not found,” says the KPMG website, on which the lawyer presented himself until a few days ago.
The separation is said to be related to criminal investigations against the lawyer. At the beginning of January, investigators searched the offices of KPMG Law in Frankfurt and the suspect’s private apartment. Apparently, the law firm belonging to the auditing company KPMG has now recognized that the man is no longer tenable.
In a press release in August last year, KPMG Law praised the new addition from the major law firm Norton Rose Fulbright as a “reinforcement”. He advises international investment banks, asset managers and capital management companies as well as insurers and other institutional investors. KPMG Law gave the lawyer, tax consultant and business graduate a managerial role.
The press release did not say a word about the lawyer’s past as a Cum-Ex consultant. The lawyer had advised many clients on these illegal transactions. The Latin term cum-ex stands for share group transactions around the dividend payment date. This allowed actors to have capital gains taxes reimbursed by the state, even though they had never paid them. In the meantime, highest courts such as the Federal Fiscal Court and the Federal Court of Justice have branded this practice as illegal and punishable.
Questionable personnel selection
Observers are surprised that KPMG Law hired the lawyer at all. “Embarrassing,” commented an insider. One wonders how intensively the company looks at potential career changers. It had long been known in the market that the lawyer was one of the most important advisers when it came to Cum-Ex. KPMG did not provide any information about the separation. A spokesman said: “Please understand that we do not comment on this.”
An investment banker named the suspect along with Hanno Berger and a Freshfields partner. The Bonn Regional Court recently sentenced Berger to eight years in prison. Some ex-Freshfields partners are accused today, two of them will soon have to answer before the Frankfurt Regional Court. One of them is Ulf Johannemann, whom Freshfields promoted to global tax manager in 2016.
Cum-Ex is not a new topic at KPMG either. In September 2022, 60 prosecutors, tax investigators and police officers searched the headquarters in “The Squaire” at Frankfurt Airport. KPMG is said to have looked after various banks and financial service providers in cum-ex matters and, in particular, to have written pleasing reports.
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