Freshfields Indecent Legal Bill
What for? Handelsblatt asked Freshfields about this. Did the law firm legally retain the company managed by Johannemann? Why did the law firm pay €50 million to a bank that went bankrupt after being advised by Freshfields? And what about the many other customers who have received similar advice? In 2016, a Bundestag committee of inquiry met into the Ex scandal. Banks and in particular wealthy investors have repeatedly been entitled to a capital gains tax on trading shares with () and no (ex) dividend rights that had been paid only once. The total damage to the taxpayer is estimated at twelve billion euros. Freshfields` international lawyers work on the most complex legal challenges. Here, they share their findings. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has increased the number of days it expects its legal staff to be in the London and Manchester office, as businesses continue to struggle with sparse offices in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. We celebrate success, excellence and innovation in the legal profession in the UK. But Freshfields has a higher standard than simply avoiding criminal cases. Even if the company`s experts had come to the conclusion that there was nothing illegal about Ex, a «long-term positive effect on society» was certainly not the double grip on the tax fund. Essex Court Chambers removed an article from its website referring to a legal opinion condemning abuses by Uighur Muslims just hours after the package was sanctioned along with a group of British individuals and companies.
Sanctions were imposed by China on Friday in connection with the alleged «lies and disinformation» that […] The case is the third indictment filed in Germany, for example, a business strategy that lawmakers say has cost the government at least €10 billion ($11.2 billion) in lost revenue. There are dozens of lenders involved in the growing scandal of the financial industry. Two former London investment bankers are currently on trial, for example in Bonn, another case has been filed in a court in Wiesbaden. License our cutting-edge legal content to develop your thought leadership and build your brand. What Freshfields and Johannemann actually did was, of course, the exact opposite. Almost no lawyer today believes that ex transactions have never been legal. The president of the Cologne Finance Court recently described as «criminal glory» the fact that banks, investors and lawyers have nevertheless been through for so long. The first trial of the ex has been taking place at the Bonn Regional Court since September. There, even the accused admit that they acted against the law.
The prosecution called it a «protective charge» and put Johannemann in the dock along with five former Maple Bank executives. Other proceedings are ongoing, Freshfields is accused in addition to Johannemann also current or former lawyers. The law firm should also be involved in the proceedings. It must reckon with the elimination of the costs of the allegedly illegal business. As a result, claims for damages by customers who have had to pay or still have to pay are possible. «Our friends at WestLB — Ex hit the eve of the AGM,» Freshfields` lawyer, Thomas Maler*, wrote to a trader. Johannemann replied: «The first short sellers are already nervous.» According to Johannemann, the US investment bank Lehman Brothers, which was also involved, had «full pants». If WestLB`s transactions were investigated, «it could turn out that Lehman did something indecent.» A former partner at Freshfield`s Bruckhaus Deringer LLP has been accused of lying to German tax authorities to cover up a controversial business strategy and avoid a high tax bill for his client, bankrupt investment boutique Maple Bank. How much will the bill be? In August 2019, Freshfields agreed with Maple Bank`s receiver to a payment of €50 million – despite the company`s «firm belief that our advice was in compliance with the law,» Freshfields said. In the Aple case, six former bankers of the late lender were charged alongside Johannemann, who left Freshfields late last year and was briefly detained in December as part of the investigation.
The men`s transactions from 2006 to 2009 cost the taxpayer 388.6 million euros ($430.8 million) in illegal tax refunds paid to them as a result of the strategy, according to the statement. Without Freshfields, according to Frankfurt`s federal attorney general, it would never have come to this. Freshfields` statement to comply with legally erroneous conclusions was therefore the basis for Maple Bank`s fraud with the German State Security. The Frankfurt prosecutor`s office accused the former partner of co-developing the model and producing legal opinions aimed at making the so-called ex-legal transactions when they were fully aware of their true structure. Ex deals have been called the biggest scam of all time in Germany, costing the state billions of dollars in lost revenue. For many years, Johannemann`s word was more important than almost any other in the industry. Freshfields was the number one tax expert, lawyers and asset managers say, and Johannemann was the number one taxpayer at Freshfields.