In Germany, the Council of Ministers approved the creation of the Federal Office for Combating Financial Crimes (BBF) to combat money laundering.

In the statement from the German Ministry of Finance it was highlighted that the creation of the BBF was approved by the Council of Ministers to centralize the monitoring and analysis of money laundering and the implementation of sanctions on this issue.

Consequently, within the BBF the coordination of criminal investigations and the supervision of money laundering will be brought together in particular, and in 2025 the Central Office for the Enforcement of Sanctions (ZfS) will also join the BBF.

IT IS PLANNED TO HAVE 1700 EMPLOYEES

To prevent abuses in the market and provide greater transparency, a real estate transaction registry will be created in which the information obtained from electronic sales notifications will also be stored.

BBF is planned to have 1,700 employees and offices in the cities of Cologne and Dresden.

Separately, Germany was criticized last year by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for not having had sufficient success in combating money laundering, despite being one of the world’s largest cash centers. (AA)