Anne Brorhilker accompanied her resignation as chief investigator in the cum-ex scandal to level some criticism at the system. „I am not at all satisfied with the way financial crime is prosecuted in Germany," the senior public prosecutor said in an interview with WDR. On 22 April Brorhilker submitted a "request for dismissal from her position as a civil servant“ to the Public Prosecutor General's Office.

Politicians have not focused on the cum-ex proceedings, and there is often a lack of central responsibility in the investigation of financial crime, she complains. While suspected perpetrators from the financial sector often have a lot of money and good contacts, the justice system is weak. If a case is dropped in return for a fine, trust in the rule of law suffers. The small fish are caught, while the big fish go free, the 50-year-old investigator complained.

The public prosecutor has been investigating cum-ex cases since 2012. She heads a Cologne based department that is investigating more than 1,700 suspects. In the future, she intends to take action against financial crime on behalf of a Non Governmental Organisation. Bürgerbewegung Finanzwende has announced that Brorhilker will be joining them as managing director. She approached the association, founder and board member Gerhard Schick explained, adding that „given the great success of her work as a public prosecutor, I would never have expected this.“

The goals that the association is to pursue under Brorhilker's leadership are vague so far: the judiciary must be better positioned to fight financial crime, the association writes, and the financial lobby in the judiciary must be pushed back. Tax fraud in the millions should not be treated more gently than social fraud. „Anne Brorhilker's move to Finanzwende is a declaration of war on financial criminals and their supporters," says Schick, who used to sit in the Bundestag for the Greens. An unspecified "transitional period“ is to elapse before the public prosecutor starts working for the association.

Her determined approach has brought Brorhilker a lot of attention - her stance carries weight in politics. Last year, the North Rhine-Westphalia Justice Minister Benjamin Limbach (Greens) initially planned to split the main department of the Cologne public prosecutor's office, which prosecutes cum-ex cases, into two sections. But after this effective demotion of chief investigator Brorhilker caused a stir, he abandoned the plans and promised four new positions, increasing the main department to a staff of forty. Limbach's plans took her by surprise, Brorhilker said in the TV interview. „I didn't see it as support at first.“

Nevertheless, the Bürgerbewegung Finanzwende is at least partially satisfied with what has been achieved. Brorhilker is leaving behind a public prosecutor's office in Cologne that is well positioned for cum-ex investigations, explains Schick. „In recent years, however, it has become clear that the problem of the lack of prosecution of cum-ex transactions cannot be solved by one person, and not from Cologne alone.“ Schick praises Brorhilker for her concern with justice and the rule of law.