Danish court clears forced sale of seized Sydbank shares in Odense case

Retten i Odense has authorised Skatteforvaltningen to realise its attachment by selling shares in AL Sydbank A/S at forced auction, according to a decision dated 6 November 2026. The authorisation was issued by the court’s fogedret — the bailiff’s division that handles enforcement — and was published in Statstidende on 11 November 2026 under the official reference S06112026-111.

The announcement appears in the gazette’s section for summonses and notices to persons and companies (“Stævninger og indkaldelser · Personer/firmaer”), under the case heading “Auktionssagen” — the auction case. It is addressed to Arne Thams, whose address the court records as unknown.

The notice records that the fogedret received a request from Skatteforvaltningen, the Danish tax administration, seated at Brændgårdvej 10, 7400 Herning, for authorisation to dispose of shares. The court has granted that request and now informs the debtor of the outcome, stating that any questions from Arne Thams may be put directly to the court.

The holding at the centre of the case

The enforcement measure concerns a specific securities position, identified in the notice by depot number and international securities identifier:

• Shares in AL Sydbank A/S held under depot no. 079100001142366.
• The shares carry the ISIN code DK0010311471.
• The position is described by the court as already attached (“de udlagte”) before the sale authorisation was granted.

The notice does not state how many shares the depot contains, their market value, or the size of the tax claim that triggered the enforcement. It also sets no date for the auction itself.

Who will conduct the sale

The shares are not to be sold by the court directly. Under the authorisation, the sale at forced auction is to be handled by a securities trading company acting as auction leader, with the mandate given to:

• AL Sydbank A/S Fondsmæglerselskab, the bank’s investment-firm subsidiary, at Peberlyk 4, 6200 Aabenraa.
• The court’s communication states that the disposal proceeds through this company, in the wording of the decision, “til bortsalg på tvangsauktion gennem” that entity.

Legal basis and the reason for public announcement

The authorisation rests on § 2, stk. 1 of the Danish auction-leader act (auktionslederlovens § 2, stk. 1), the provision cited in the notice as the legal ground for selling attached assets through an appointed auction leader. The sequence described in the document is a request from the tax authority, a court authorisation, and a sale executed through the named investment firm.

The decision is being served by public announcement rather than by ordinary delivery to the debtor. The notice states that the message is published publicly because other forms of service have not been possible. That procedural step is what places the case in the official gazette instead of in a private letter, and it is why the debtor is named in a publicly searchable record.

Why the notice matters

For readers, the announcement marks the point at which an attachment on listed securities moves from a freezing measure to an actual disposal in the market, executed by a private securities firm rather than by the court. It also illustrates how enforcement proceeds when a debtor cannot be located: the gazette becomes the only channel through which the decision is formally communicated, and the named person is directed to contact Retten i Odense for any clarification. Because the text fixes neither an auction date nor a claim amount, the notice functions as a formal notification rather than an auction advertisement.

Source: Statstidende, 11 November 2026, section I (Summonses and notices), official reference: S06112026-111.