Money laundering; appointment of a money laundering officer and a representative

The obligation to appoint an anti-money laundering officer depends on risk factors such as the company's area of activity or structure, which could facilitate possible misuse for money laundering by third parties.

Description

The German Money Laundering Act (Geldwäschegesetz - GwG) requires obligated parties to take appropriate business- and customer-related internal safeguards to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. These internal security measures include, in particular, the appointment of a money laundering officer and his representative. The obligation to appoint a money laundering officer or a representative exists either directly by virtue of the law (Section 7 (1) Sentence 1 AMLA) or on the basis of an order issued by the competent authority (Section 7 (3) AMLA).

This order was issued in mid-August 2021 for all Bavarian administrative districts for commercial dealers in goods whose main activity (more than 50% of total sales in the previous fiscal year) is trading in precious metals such as gold, silver and platinum, precious stones, jewelry, watches, art objects, antiques, motor vehicles, ships, motorboats or aircraft, where on the last day of the previous fiscal year a total of at least 15 employees were employed in the areas of acquisition, cashiering, customer accounting, sales and distribution, including management personnel (in particular management) and who, pursuant to Section 4 para. 5 No. 1 of the German Money Laundering Act (GwG) to have an effective risk management system in place.

The competent authority must be notified in advance of the appointment of a money laundering officer and a deputy or their dismissal (Section 7 (4) sentence 1 AMLA). We recommend the forms that can be downloaded under "Forms" for the notification (notification of change / deputy regulation / discharge).

Pursuant to Section 7 (2) GwG, an application for exemption from the obligation to appoint a money laundering officer may be submitted to the locally competent supervisory authority.

Pursuant to Section 6 (7) Sentence 1 GwG, a contractual agreement may be concluded by the obligated party to transfer the duties of the money laundering officer to third parties. The consent of the supervisory authority is not required for this. Rather, prior notification of the transfer is sufficient.

Information on the contractual requirements can be found under "Further links".

Prerequisites

The obligation to appoint a money laundering officer exists for

  • Obligated persons pursuant to Section 2 (1) Nos. 1 to 3, 6, 7, 9 and 15 AMLA in principle (Section 7 (1) Sentence 1 AMLA);
  • obligated persons pursuant to Section 2 (1) No. 4, 5, 8, 10 to 14 and 16 AMLA only upon order of the supervisory authorities (Section 7 (3) Sentence 1 AMLA);
  • in the case of obligated persons pursuant to Section 2 (1) no. 16 GwG, this order is due in mid-August 2021 for all Bavarian administrative districts for commercial dealers in goods whose main activity (more than 50% of total sales in the previous fiscal year) is trading in precious metals such as gold, silver and platinum, precious stones, jewelry, watches, works of art, antiques, motor vehicles, ships, motorboats or aircraft, where on the last day of the previous business year a total of at least 15 employees were employed in the areas of acquisition, cash desk, customer accounting, sales and distribution, including management personnel (in particular management), and who, in accordance with § 4 para. 5 No. 1 GwG, are obliged to have an effective risk management system (Section 7 (3) Sentence 2 GwG);
  • as the parent company of a group pursuant to Section 9 (1) sentence 2 no. 2 AMLA or
  • for obligated parties belonging to a group who have to implement group-wide obligations (Section 9 (4) AMLA);

In all these cases, both the appointment and the removal of the money laundering officer and his deputy must be notified in advance (Section 7 (4) AMLA and Section 9 (1) sentence 4 and (4) AMLA).

Competent supervisory authority for

  • Financial companies (Section 2 (1) No. 6 AMLA in conjunction with Section 1 (24) Sentence 1 AMLA)
  • Insurance intermediaries (Section 2 (1) No. 8 AMLA)
  • Non-chambered legal advisors and registered persons pursuant to Section 10 of the Legal Services Act (Section 2 (1) No. 11 AMLA)
  • Service providers for companies and trust assets or trustees (Section 2 (1) No. 13 AMLA)
  • Real estate agents (Section 2 (1) No. 14 GwG)
  • dealers in goods and art brokers (Section 2 (1) No. 16 GwG)

is the Government of Middle Franconia for the administrative districts of Upper, Lower and Middle Franconia, Swabia and the Upper Palatinate, and the Government of Lower Bavaria for the administrative districts of Upper and Lower Bavaria (Section 50 No. 9 AMLA in conjunction with Section 8a Zuständigkeitsverordnung - ZustV).

Procedure

For the (new) appointment or dismissal of (group) money laundering officers or their deputies for your company with headquarters in Bavaria and belonging to one of the above-mentioned groups of companies, please use the forms listed below. Please notify the competent supervisory authority by mail, fax or e-mail of simple changes, e.g. of telephone numbers.

Special notes

The voluntary appointment of a money laundering officer as an "additional" internal security measure is possible without you being obliged to do so by the AMLA or a provision of the supervisory authority.

Deadlines

None

Forms

Please select a location in "Localization" so that the address of the responsible authority can be filled in.

Status:11.05.2023

Responsible for editing:Bayerisches Staatsministerium des Innern, für Sport und Integration

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  • Online transactions, Bavaria-wide
  • Online transactions, locally limited
  • Form, Bavaria-wide
  • Form, locally limited
  • Prefillable Form, Bavaria-wide
  • Legal bases, Bavaria-wide
  • Legal bases, locally limited
  • Fees, Bavaria-wide
  • Fees, locally limited
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Responsible for you

If you select a location under "Localization" the contact details of the responsible authority and, if applicable, locally valid information will be displayed.