by Finn Zeidler and Ralf van Ermingen-Marbach
Germany’s AML framework has already been described as insufficient by the FATF (Financial Action Task Force) in the past. Since the collapse of payment service provider Wirecard, the prevention of money laundering has been placed even higher on the German government’s agenda.
The implementation of the 5th EU Money Laundering Directive on January 1, 2020 already exceeded the EU’s requirements. Furthermore, the German government adopted a “National Strategy Package” and—in direct conjunction with the Wirecard collapse—a “16-Points Action Plan” at the beginning and in the middle of last year.
Additional amendments to the German Criminal Code (Strafgesetzbuch) and the German Anti Money Laundering Act (Geldwäschegesetz), plus new structures to be implemented in law enforcement agencies, all of which we describe below, shall bring further improvements in combating money laundering in Germany more effectively.