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唐朱昌
唐朱昌
教授,博士生导师。复旦大学中国反洗钱研究中心首任主任,复旦大学俄...
严立新
严立新
复旦大学国际金融学院教授,中国反洗钱研究中心执行主任,陆家嘴金...
陈浩然
陈浩然
复旦大学法学院教授、博士生导师;复旦大学国际刑法研究中心主任。...
何 萍
何 萍
华东政法大学刑法学教授,复旦大学中国反洗钱研究中心特聘研究员,荷...
李小杰
李小杰
安永金融服务风险管理、咨询总监,曾任蚂蚁金服反洗钱总监,复旦大学...
周锦贤
周锦贤
周锦贤先生,香港人,广州暨南大学法律学士,复旦大学中国反洗钱研究中...
童文俊
童文俊
高级经济师,复旦大学金融学博士,复旦大学经济学博士后。现供职于中...
汤 俊
汤 俊
武汉中南财经政法大学信息安全学院教授。长期专注于反洗钱/反恐...
李 刚
李 刚
生辰:1977.7.26 籍贯:辽宁抚顺 民族:汉 党派:九三学社 职称:教授 研究...
祝亚雄
祝亚雄
祝亚雄,1974年生,浙江衢州人。浙江师范大学经济与管理学院副教授,博...
顾卿华
顾卿华
复旦大学中国反洗钱研究中心特聘研究员;现任安永管理咨询服务合伙...
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上传时间: 2018-12-07      浏览次数:698次
German real estate market a hotbed of money laundering, Transparency reports

 

https://www.dw.com/en/german-real-estate-market-a-hotbed-of-money-laundering-transparency-reports/a-46637937

 

About €30 billion of dubiously-sourced money was funneled into German real estate in 2017. Transparency International is calling for a series of reforms to combat the problem.

 

Billions of euros of illicit funds are being funneled into German real estate, anti-corruption group Transparency International said in a report on Friday.

 

Germany recently introduced measures to combat money laundering in the real estate sector but the group argues these reforms have been wholly ineffective.

 

Transparency Germany boss Edda Müller said: "The existing laws and the resources of the investigating authorities are disproportionate, particularly in view of the unlimited nature of international financial flows".

 

The Green Party's Lisa Paus called on the federal government to give top priority to this issue, as it was also causes rising rents and purchase prices. "Germany must no longer serve as a safe haven for dirty money from all over the world."

 

Germany's money laundering laws obligate real estate agents, notaries and lawyers to "know your customer" and report suspicions. In 2017 Germany introduced a transparency register that required nested corporate structures to reveal their true beneficiaries. All parties involved in companies, cooperatives and foundations holding more than 25 percent of the capital or voting shares must be listed. Failure to do so should result in fines of up to €1 million. Information is accessible to authorities and people with a legitimate interest, including real estate agents and notaries. However the database has enjoyed little use by anyone so far, and has been plagued with issues, with loopholes still allowing parties to obscure the true beneficiaries of transactions.

 

Notaries, who update land title records for real estate transactions, could serve as a final buffer in the laundering of money, but are hamstrung by a commitment to client confidentiality. Transparency argues such obligations must be dropped in cases of criminal suspicion.

 

Land title records are not publicly accessible in notoriously privacy-sensitive Germany. The registers are currently being digitized and centralized, however, Transparency called for this process to be expedited and the registers to be opened up to the public to help combat the issue.