“Euro Finance Week”
Bafin boss Branson declares war on money laundering
The President of Bafin Mark Branson speaks at “Euro Finance Week” about the fight against money laundering and cyber risks. Photo: Arne Dedert / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
Bafin boss Mark Branson wants to fight more against money laundering and cyber risks. They are among the ten medium-term goals with which the Bafin is to be modernized over the next few years.
The new Bafin boss Mark Branson wants to fight money laundering and cyber risks in the financial sector more resolutely.
“Above all, the banks with an increased risk of money laundering must expect our particular attention,” said the President of the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (Bafin) on Monday at the “Euro Finance Week” in Frankfurt. “Here, too, our ambition is to get ahead of the situation and not just to react. To this end, we will significantly increase our staff in the area of money laundering prevention. “
Branson, who had previously headed the Swiss financial regulator Finma, took over the management of the Bafin in August from Felix Hufeld, who had to vacate his post in the wake of the Wirecard scandal. In the case of Wirecard, neither the Bafin nor the auditors from EY noticed the billions in fraud allegedly running for years by the now insolvent payment service provider.
The focus is on ten central topics
Branson announced that the Bafin would like to “achieve significant progress” in ten key areas in the next four years. The supervisors want to pay particular attention to the issue of IT security, for example. “This risk is very present and growing rapidly. Personally, I’m not sure that we are all – government, private sector – well prepared for a really serious security incident, ”said Branson.
Based on the ten medium-term goals, Branson wants to advance the modernization of Bafin over the next four years. «We have to get faster. And we have to act in a more holistic, networked and forward-looking manner, ”affirmed Branson. «We want to establish an effective balance sheet control. The previous two-stage system failed in the events surrounding Wirecard. ” However, it is “nonsense” that the Bafin lacks qualified specialists.
Branson sees the ongoing low interest rates as one of the greatest risks for the financial sector: “If interest rates remain so low, they will damage the business models of banks and life insurers more and more. If they rise abruptly, it becomes turbulent. “