Germany Takes Decisive Action Against Financial Crime: New Agency to Fight Money Laundering and Sanctions Evasion
In a major crackdown on financial crime, Germany is set to launch a new agency dedicated to combating money laundering and sanctions evasion.
Introduction
The Federal Financial Crime Agency (FFCA) will bundle key competencies under one roof, utilizing the “follow the money” approach to investigate complex cases of international money laundering. The agency will be established in 2024 and take up its work in 2025, replacing existing structures that have been criticized for their inefficiencies.
Key Changes
- Bundling of Analysis, Investigations, and Supervision: The FFCA will prioritize the fight against money laundering, focusing on investigating large-scale international cases rather than petty offenses.
- State-of-the-Art Digital Technology: The agency will utilize state-of-the-art digital technology, including data analytics and artificial intelligence, to enhance its investigative capabilities.
- Money Laundering Investigative Centre (MIC): The MIC will take a rigorous approach to detecting and tracking illicit financial flows, focusing on suspicious transactions rather than predicate offenses.
Priorities
- Transparency on Beneficial Owners: The agency will prioritize transparency on beneficial owners, improving data quality in the transparency register and providing additional access authorizations to make it easier to discover false entries and initiate adjustments.
- Incentives for Disclosure: Incentives will be provided for companies to disclose their ownership and control structures voluntarily.
Strengthening Efforts
- Administrative Asset Investigation Procedure: The FFCA will introduce a new administrative asset investigation procedure, allowing for proportionate investigations into suspicious assets.
- Coordination with State-Level Supervisory Authorities: The agency will work closely with state-level supervisory authorities to coordinate supervision in the non-financial sector and reduce the number of supervisory authorities.
Conclusion
The Combating Financial Crimes Act (Finanzkriminalitätsbekämpfungsgesetz) aims to establish a more effective and efficient system for combating financial crime, ensuring that Germany’s strength as a magnet for business and finance is not undermined by illicit activities. The new agency will play a crucial role in this effort, providing a powerful tool for law enforcement agencies to fight against money laundering and sanctions evasion.