The Erste Abwicklungsanstalt successfully defends itself in the cum-ex legal dispute with Portigon AG

Düsseldorf, 12. December 2023. The Erste Abwicklungsanstalt AöR (EAA) has defended itself successfully in the legal dispute with Portigon AG. In its decision of 5 December 2023, the Federal Court of Justice rejected Portigon AG’s complaint against non-admission The judgement by the Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt am Main (OLG) of 21 December 2022 in favour of the EAA is therefore final and Portigon AG’s claim for exemption from cum-ex tax liabilities of the former WestLB AG is definitively unsuccessful.

“This decision by the Federal Court of Justice has averted the biggest single risk for the EAA,” Christian Doppstadt, member of the EAA Managing Board, was very pleased to report. “The Managing Board would like to thank the EAA’s employees and our legal advisors at Linklaters for their extensive work and tremendous commitment that contributed to this outcome,” Doppstadt continued.

The OLG already followed the EAA’s line of defence and, having interpreted the spin-off agreement, found that the parties had never agreed to a transfer of tax burdens from cum/ex transactions of the former WestLB to the EAA. The Federal Court of Justice has now also confirmed the OLG’s non-admission of the appeal. Following some four years of legal proceedings, it is now clear that Portigon AG is liable for the cum-ex tax liabilities of its legal predecessor WestLB AG.