The cum-ex scandal began in 2017 when the German authorities opened fraud investigations into hundreds of banks and individuals over involvement in so-called cum-ex trading fraud between 2001 and 2011. Cum-ex transactions allowed investors to exploit a legal loophole that allegedly enabled multiple parties to reclaim billions of euros of tax they never paid on share dividends. London has recently come under scrutiny, as a large amount of the cum-ex trading under suspicion is believed to have been conducted by traders based in London claiming dividend rebates in European states. In March 2020, two London-based bankers, Martin Shields and Nicholas Diable –formally of Munich-based lender HypoVereinsbank – were found guilty in Germany of tax evasion and only avoided prison in exchange for co-operation with German the authorities. Read more.