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CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre advises investment funds before the Court of Justice of the European Union

15/05/2012


Clifford Chance advises German investment funds before the European Court of Justice in the Santander case.

International law firm Clifford Chance advised German investment funds during the proceedings initiated against the French tax authorities by a large number of non-French UCITS before the Court of Justice of the European Union.

In its judgment in the Santander case, delivered on 10 May, the Court ruled in favour of the funds, stating that the French practice of levying a 30% withholding tax on dividends paid to non-resident UCITS, while exempting French UCITS from the tax, was a restriction on the free movement of capital.

According to information released by the French tax authorities, nearly 20,000 claims have been filed to date, totalling around €4.5 billion in requested refunds.

The lawyers from Clifford Chance involved in the case were Alexandre Lagarrigue (Partner) and Britta Hardeck.

The other investment funds that were parties to the joined cases brought before the European Court of Justice were advised by Ashurst (C. Charpentier and N. Gelli), Fidal Direction Internationale (Y. Robert and S. Lauratet), GGV (P. Schultze and A. Feger), Landwell & Associés (V. Louvel and S. Defert) and CMS Francis Lefebvre (Pierre Le Roux and Lionel Bogey).


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Pierre Le Roux
Lionel Bogey