In a study, the anti-corruption organization Transparency Deutschland attests that Germany has a “massive problem with money laundering”. Politicians and authorities would not take sufficient action against it. “Germany is on the black list of countries at risk of money laundering and is unlikely to pass the current FATF review,” said Christoph Trautvetter, author of the study and academic adviser for the Tax Justice Network, on Tuesday.
The highest international anti-money laundering body, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), is currently examining the efficiency of the responsible authorities in Germany. Experts reckon with a bad grade again; the control result was catastrophic as early as 2010. Germany is considered a money laundering paradise, around 100 billion euros are laundered here every year. The German government recently received another reprimand from the EU Commission for not fully implementing the EU Money Laundering Directive.
Transparency Germany calls for the establishment of a federal finance police for preventive financial investigations. “That would be the greatest lever to determine and sanction anonymous ownership structures and financial flows,” says the expert. “Every transaction leaves its mark on the international financial system.” The banks use the Swift network for this, where all payment flows can be recorded. However, the individual banks never see the entire chain of transactions, only the sender of the last transfer.
“This problem could easily be solved,” says Trautvetter, who demands that central banks become more involved in the fight against money laundering. “The central banks are now analyzing their data for financial market stability. But they would also have to examine them for financial market integrity and uncover money laundering structures in the financial market.” A case like the Danske Bank money laundering scandal would create upheavals and thus also impair the stability of the financial market.
The real estate sector in particular attracts black money
In addition to the banks, the non-financial sector is also a major gateway for criminally generated capital. The real estate sector in particular attracts black money. One problem: You can still pay for real estate in cash in this country, and you often don’t know who is behind the official buyer. “With every tenth property in Berlin there is no way to determine the real owner,” says Trautvetter. In addition to the real estate industry, casinos, jewelers, car and precious metal dealers as well as lawyers and notaries are among the so-called obligated parties in the non-financial sector. These professional groups have to report if they suspect a business – but that rarely happens.
The supervisory authorities of the federal states are responsible for monitoring this reporting requirement. The Federal Audit Office recently criticized the fact that there were far too few staff there. The supervision in the non-financial sector therefore “does not meet the legal requirements”. On the basis of the figures, the auditors found that an obligated party in this country would only have to expect an on-site inspection at most every 200 years. Expert Trautvetter therefore demands: “We don’t need any new laws, we finally need effective implementation of the laws after 30 years.”