The federal government wants to bring the planned European money laundering authority to Frankfurt am Main. The parliamentary Finance State Secretary Florian Toncar (FDP) announced the German application in Brussels and campaigned for the establishment of the EU authority in Frankfurt. “The Main metropolis is a cosmopolitan financial center of international standing in the heart of Europe,” Toncar told the German Press Agency on Wednesday. With the headquarters of the European Central Bank, the financial supervisory authority and numerous commercial banks and financial service providers, there is a great deal of financial expertise and a modern infrastructure.
The EU Commission had submitted a plan to combat money laundering in 2021. In addition to an EU-wide limit for cash payments and restrictions on cryptocurrencies, this also included a new surveillance authority. Among other things, it should be able to take over the supervision of certain financial companies if there is an increased risk of money laundering or terrorist financing.
In Germany, the Wirecard scandal in particular had recently shown gaps during the control: important information on money laundering and other suspected moments. The problem of money laundering in Europe is enormous. According to estimates by the European Court of Auditors, suspicious transactions within Europe amount to several hundred billion euros. Money that is obtained, for example, through forced prostitution, human and arms trade, drug deals or blackmail, is interspersed with the normal economic cycle.
