The EU Commission has initiated the first stage of infringement proceedings against Germany regarding the implementation of the 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive. At the same time, proceedings were initiated against Romania and Portugal. So far, Germany has not implemented the directive properly. The transposition deadline expired on 27 June 2017. Other rules of the Anti-Money Laundering Directive III have been in force since 2007 and are still not complied with in Germany. The EU Commission is thus also responding to a long-standing demand by the Greens. Sven Giegold, financial and economic policy spokesperson of the Greens/EFA group commented:
“Germany is a money laundering paradise, so the infringement procedure is justified. The procedure was overdue. For years I have been pushing for this infringement procedure in talks and submissions to the European Commission. The Commission should have taken this step much earlier. For this green success, better late than never.
Germany is Europe’s problem child in the application of EU rules to combat money laundering. The German government’s negligence in the fight against money laundering is a security risk, as it also serves to enpower organised crime and finance terrorism. There are gaps in Germany especially in the implementation of the transparency register and the strengthening of the Financial Intelligence Unit. The infringement proceedings are the final warning shot to the German government. It has to get serious in the fight against money laundering now. The actual beneficial owners of companies must be consistently disclosed, as required by EU law.
An infringement procedure is also overdue because of the deficiencies in money laundering supervision in the non-financial sector. The EU Commission should initiate proceedings here as well.”
The Greens have repeatedly called on the European Commission to initiate infringement proceedings against Germany regarding lack of action against money laundering: (Articles in German)
https://sven-giegold.de/mangelhafte-geldwaeschebekaempfung-in-deutschland/
https://sven-giegold.de/eu-parlament-stuetzt-schwarze-liste-fuer-geldwaesche/
My detailed arguments set out in a letter to Juncker und Jurova:
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