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