Anti Money Laundering and Fraud Prevention Remain to be a Challenge for German Banks

The regulatory pressure on German banks keeps increasing. Since 2011, amendments to the Anti Money Laundering (AML) act and new regulations such as the Act on Optimising the Prevention of Money Laundering and the E-Money-Directive have placed a heavy burden on the sector.

Apart from developing existing AML requirements further (e.g. customer due diligence processes), additional focus is being put on so-called ‘other criminal offences’ categories. These are factors that could affect the bank’s assets either directly or indirectly by causing reputational damage.

Our study focuses on developments in the prevention of money laundering, terrorist financing and ‘other criminal offences’ and serves as a guide to current best practice in Germany. In total, 55 financial institutions took part, drawn from all bank segments as well as several investment companies. This makes it one of the largest studies of its kind in Germany. Where applicable comparisons with BearingPoint studies from previous years are given.

This overview summarises a selection of the key findings with regard to the prevention of money laundering, terrorist financing and ‘other criminal offences’. Please note that this document represents a management summary of the study in English.