#rp25 speaker Anne Brorhilker: How white-collar criminals are (still) robbing the state

„Cum/Ex continues“ – that's what Anne Brorhilker is certain of. With this form of serious tax evasion, banks and other investors have the tax office refund tax on capital gains that they actually never paid. Despite a change in the law in 2012, internationally organized tax fraud is still widespread. This deliberate confusion with shares probably did cost the German state at least ten billion euros between 2006 and 2011. Money that is now missing everywhere.

Although the so-called cum/ex deals are considered the biggest tax theft in the history of the Federal Republic of Germany, these illegal share transactions are prosecuted and punished relatively little. Because of her doubts about the political will to investigate, Anne Brorhilker resigned as former Cum/Ex chief investigator - and applied for dismissal from her civil servant position. Since then, she has been campaigning for fair, stable and sustainable financial markets with the citizens' movement Finanzwende.

At re:publica 25, the former Cologne public prosecutor will give us an insight into her investigative work and how the state deals with white-collar crime. Who are the players within the financial sector and what drives the perpetrators? Which lobbies prevent consistent prosecution, and why is tax evasion so often seen as a trivial offense? What and how much money does the public lose as a result? How can we better equip the judiciary in the fight against tax fraud and drive forward the fight against financial crimes more consistently? In short, what can we all do to bring about political change and a fairer financial world?

As Managing Director and Head of Financial Crime, Anne Brorhilker is a key voice in the public debate on financial justice at the citizens' movement Finanzwende. She previously worked at the public prosecutor's office in Cologne for over 20 years. Since 2009, she has handled serious cases of tax evasion there, including the Cum/Ex cases from 2013, which are considered the biggest tax scandal of our time. She brought perpetrators to court and obtained numerous legally binding, groundbreaking judgments. Moreover, she has received international attention and recognition for her work.

The motto of re:publica 25 is ‘Generation XYZ’. What is your message for future generations with regard to the digital society?

Anne Brorhilker: ‘In the digital society, the loudest voice is not automatically right. We need to empower future generations to critically scrutinise information - who is disseminating it, with what intention and on what basis. This is the only way to prevent those who have the most money or influence from taking over the power of interpretation.’