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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: 2018-12-11      浏览次数:813次
Money-Launderers Find Haven in Germany

https://eu.greekreporter.com/2018/12/10/money-launderers-find-haven-in-germany/

 

Real estate laws and regulations in Germany have made the country a hotbed for the crime of international money laundering, according to a report from Deutsche Welle.

 

About 30 billion euros “of suspect origin” were funneled into real estate in Germany in 2017, says the anti-corruption organization Transparency International. It is now proposing a series of measures to fight the practice.

 

The measures applied by the German government so far to stop the fraud, which is accomplished through real estate transactions, have not been effective, the organization stated.

 

Criminal networks, particularly the Italian Mafia, take advantage of legal loopholes in the German real estate sector to launder money. Overall, it is estimated that 15 to 30 percent of proceeds from all criminal activity are invested in real estate, through building and renovating, buying, selling and even renting properties.

 

The transactions are usually run through frontmen whose names do not appear in legal databases and are not known to the authorities. Of the 60,000 suspicious transactions which took place in 2017, only 20 came from real estate agents, which is typical, according the organization.

 

“The existing laws and the resources of the investigating authorities are disproportionate, particularly in view of the unlimited nature of international financial flows,” Transparency Germany chief Edda Muller told Deutsche Welle.

 

Transparency International is now suggesting that Germany proceeds with sweeping reforms in the real estate sector. Loopholes still allow parties to hide the true beneficiaries of real estate transitions despite the “transparency register” database created in 2017.

 

Unlike the situation in most countries, the notaries who record real estate title transfers are bound to client confidentiality in Germany. Transparency International suggests that such laws must not apply when a notary suspects criminal activity.

 

Amazingly, land title records are not currently accessible to the public in Germany although the authorities are in the process of digitizing and centralizing the records.

 

Transparency International calls for this process to be expedited, and for the registers to be opened up to the public. According to the organization, this would accomplish a great deal in the global fight against money laundering.