ABC arbitrage - Information Notice Regarding Paragraph 4.1 of the Consolidated Accounts Included in the 2023 Annual Financial Report

ABC arbitrage - Information Notice Regarding Paragraph 4.1 of the Consolidated Accounts Included in the 2023 Annual Financial Report

In accordance with Article 17 of the MAR regulation concerning the concept of insider information, and despite the gross financial impact for the first half of 2024 being estimated at only €230K, ABC arbitrage announces that Quartys Limited (100% owned subsidiary) received, on August 30, 2024, a letter from the Swiss Federal Tax Administration ("AFC") rejecting the refund of withholding taxes.

Recap of Events – As explained in our 2023 annual financial report, page 60, paragraph 4.1, Quartys Limited is subject to a review regarding its requests for refund of the withholding tax ("RAS") addressed to the Swiss Federal Tax Administration ("AFC") for the years 2016 to 2019 and by extension until 2023. Given the risks concerning the recovery time of these RAS and the recent rise in interest rates, the Group, in accordance with IFRS 13, decided to update the receivable as of December 31, resulting in a negative impact on the 2023 financial year results amounting to €1.35M (directly included in the line “Net gains on financial instruments at fair value through profit or loss” – see also the 2023 Results Presentation (March 2024), pages 13 and 14).

AFC Letter – The AFC formally transmitted its decision to Quartys Limited via a letter received on August 30, 2024. While the AFC formally recognizes that Quartys Limited is indeed the legal owner of the shares for which the refund of the withholding tax was requested, it refuses to grant the refund for a total of 7.4 million CHF (approximately €7.9 million at the current CHF/EUR exchange rate), amounts slightly lower than those reported during the publication of the 2023 accounts.

Next Steps – The Group confirms that it acted in compliance with the rules of the relevant tax authorities. Upon receiving the letter from the AFC, the Group confirms the legitimacy of the refund request submitted by Quartys Limited and remains confident in the outcome of this dispute. To support this position with an external opinion, as was done on this matter during the publication of the 2023 accounts, the Group consulted a renowned Swiss tax law firm, which confirmed that this letter does not change its analysis and that the chances of success are more likely than not, in accordance with the terminology required by international standards (IFRIC 23).

As explained in the 2023 financial report, the entire appeal process could take several years. For this reason, the receivable was discounted over a five-year period in the 2023 accounts, resulting in a negative impact of €1.35M for that year. The Group has planned to update these amounts for the publication of the first half of 2024 accounts, adding an additional negative impact of €0.23M to that of the 2023 financial year, for a total of €1.58M in impairments of the receivable in the Group’s accounts.

The various press releases can be viewed on the company's website at the following link abc-arbitrage, in the Shareholders section, under Publications.

The next communication is scheduled for September 24 at 7:00 AM for the announcement of the first-half 2024 results.

Contacts : abc-arbitrage.com
Relations actionnaires : actionnaires@abc-arbitrage.com
Relations presse: VERBATEE / v.sabineu@verbatee.comEURONEXT Paris - Compartiment B
ISIN : FR0004040608
Reuters BITI.PA / Bloomberg ABCA FP

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