19It is settled case-law that the mere acquisition and holding of shares is not to be regarded as an economic activity within the meaning of the Sixth Directive. The mere acquisition of financial holdings in other undertakings does not amount to the exploitation of property for the purpose of obtaining income therefrom on a continuing basis because any dividend yielded by that holding is merely the result of ownership of the property and is not the product of any economic activity within the meaning ofthat directive (see Hamas &Helm, paragraph 15; KapHag, paragraph 38, and Case C-8/03 Banque Bruxelles Lambert (BBL) [2004] ECR I-1015, paragraph 38). If, therefore, the acquisition of financial holdings in other undertakings does not in itself constitute an economic activity within the meaning of that directive, the same must be true of activities consisting in the sale of such holdings (see Case C-155/94 Wellcome Trust [1996] ECR I-3013, paragraph 33; KapHag, paragraph 40, and BBL, paragraph 38).
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