Danske Bank International S.A. Head of Legal and Compliance claimed in Court that he could not recall if his client- the bank- gave tax advice to property owners abroad, but he thinks they did not.
Also, he was adamant that the bank’s understanding of the Capital Assurance product -in respect to IHT benefits- was that such benefits would be achieved by placing the loan in a Unit-Linked offshore based insurance policy, and never by reducing the value of the property.
The man, Ole Stenersen –whether through lack of sleep or a late heavy (another one) night out- was clearly confused. Firstly, he warned that he was no tax expert on the Capital Assurance scheme only to later dissect the financial product on the basis of its tax avoidance functionality.
Later he said that KPMG had only asked them (DB) to remove their name (KPMG), and confirmed that KPMG never questioned the tax advice that was given by Danske Bank, which according to Ole scrupulously followed KPMGs findings.
Finally, he insisted that their advertising material at no point stated that by taking out a mortgage would the customer reduce -legally- the value of the property.
Not to worry Ole, we are aware the flight from Luxembourg must have been long and the trip to Fuengirola arduous and so, at ERVA, we will lend you a hand with the homework by refreshing your selective memory with an IHT manual that is actually… your own publicity.
We hope you now remember better what was your employer exactly doing in Spain.
(It defies logic what little respect you show for your own clients’ intelligence, your own banking system and, not the least, the Spanish Court system: if you’d been deposed in the UK you would have automatically been charged with perjury).
Is it any wonder Danske Bank have lost the plot, when Ole Stenersen, who after all is the “Top Banana” in Danske Bank Legal & Compliance Dept., has no idea what his subordinates are up to, Alternatively lying through his back teeth, personally I think the latter is more appropriate. No doubt he was told by his Spanish Legal Team that it is in order to LIE to the court, as their is no such thing in the Spanish Legal System as perjury, at least if you are a defendant. Hopefully he will now have read his own promotional documents, which I would hope he would have reviewed & OK’d prior to their publication in Spain. Having just read these I would bring to the attention of all Erva members and especially those that have been screwed by Danske Bank the following excerpts from their own literature:-
: MORTGAGE LOAN ON SPANISH PROPERTY.
– to reduce the net value of the Spanish Property.
: INHERITANCE TAX CAN BE REDUCED eg.
– Between Spouses
– NO Spanish Inheritance Tax for beneficiaries living outside Spain.
The question remains as we have seen so many times in the small print. Why give concrete tax advice in their promotional literature then try to get out of the consequences with a disclaimer. Are they not aware that these types of disclaimers carry no weight whatsoever in the Spanish Courts.
It seems pretty clear to me that Danske Bank should be found GUILY as Charged (As our American Friends would say).
Its quite amazing what Danske Bank will say to try to get out of this mess. Just more deceit and lies from beginning to end, then the Corporate Head of Legal and Compliance joins in with his twist. Can they not understand that the law in Spain and the will of the people and lawyers they have chosen to represent them simply will no give up and go away. For goodness sake Danske Bank, admit you were either wrong or received bad advice and settle with the people who joined your scheme, for the purpose, as you stated and that was to mitigate both Wealth & IHT. You now know this for a fact. You can make it so much easier on yourself.
One other interesting comment you have made. It is stated that the banks understanding of the Capital Assurance product in respect to IHT benefits, was to place the loan in a Unit -Linked off shore insurance policy. Wrong Ole. From what I have read on this site, the law in Spain does not allow any IHT mitigation in Unit-Linked insurance policies. In fact the law states this very clearly. So, what went wrong. Either Danske Bank received the wrong advice. if that was the case they need to change their lawyers. Or, like other banks ignored the advice of their Lawyers and went ahead anyway with the scheme, perhaps they are of the opinion that no one would challenge this in the courts. Wrong again Ole, we and our lawyers will never give up chasing you through the courts to get justice. Do the right thing Ole, settle with the victims and SUE your lawyers for compensation, their advice was incorrect. I am sure they will have their own legal protection insurance to cover such advice.
These people play a well-established game of pass-the-parcel in an attempt to squirm out of their guilt. The bank blames the fund provider, blames the agent who blames the victim who blames the bank … all confident that a guiri on guiri financial mugging will be of no real interest to the Spanish legal authorities.
But foreigners concocting (illegal) mechanisms to rob the Spanish Exchequer is a very different matter and amounts to stealing money from the Spanish state, insulting the Spanish nation, disrespecting its people and abusing the right of foreigners to live in Spain.
The perpetrators of this this scam must be hunted down to face justice … and as they have exhibited total contempt for tax laws it is highly unlikely that they are compliant with their own tax obligations in Spain, including the annual submission of a Module 720 form to disclose all wealth secretly and illegally hidden in some dirty money tax haven.
British pensioners who have fallen victims to this fraud (and other financial hoaxes similarly executed over the years) should waste no time in (anonymously) reporting these people to the Spanish Hacienda to enable them to launch an in depth investigation into the “personal finances” of charlatans who masquerade as “financial advisors”.
Al Capone thought he was untouchable … until the IRS finally nailed him on tax evasion charges.