It has been known for a long time that joint stock transactions involving short sellers required the targeted agreements of many professional players.
However, the current sentence against a former fund manager from Warburg Invest tears down the line of defense of the accused, who have so far referred to their ignorance, concerns about their job or simply "feelings of disturbance".
Those excuses are over now.
Other courts will follow the judgment from Bonn.
The risk of criminal liability has increased immensely for managing directors once involved in cum-ex deals.
Anyone who hesitated years ago still has the opportunity to help clarify the situation in order to receive a mild sentence.
One might think that golden times are ahead for investigators.
But it's only half the truth: the Cologne public prosecutor's office will be busy for the foreseeable future with the Warburg complex and the charges against Hanno Berger.
Criminal proceedings in Hesse are stuck in taking evidence.
So far, no charges have been filed against those responsible at Landesbanks or suspects from custodian banks.
In many places there is a lack of investigators, IT specialists and public prosecutors.
The legal politicians in the federal states must finally pull together and increase their human resources.
Otherwise the opportunity to make significant progress this year in solving the biggest tax scandal in the history of Germany will be wasted.