Partner Richard Cannon comments on the ‘cum-ex’ tax fraud ruling, in Law360

Partner Richard Cannon comments in Law360 on Denmark’s £1.44 billion fraud case defeat – a major setback in the country’s efforts to recover funds from the “cum-ex” dividend scandal.

Richard’s comments were published in Law360, 6 October 2025.

“In a brutal blow for the Danish authority, the court accepted that every one of the 4,170 refund claims was invalid under Danish law, yet still dismissed the case as SKAT could not show it had been induced by any misrepresentation.

“Put simply: fraud may have taken place, but the legal claims failed because SKAT’s controls were so poor that it could not successfully argue it had been misled.

“For financial institutions across Europe, this judgment sends a clear message – even in billion-pound cases where fraud may well have occured, the entire claim can crumble if processes are weak. This is a sobering reminder that civil recovery depends upon meeting the exact legal tests of causation and reliance.”