Anti-Money-Laundering Officer

An anti money laundering officer Germany is the statutory function under Section 7 of the German Money Laundering Act (Geldwäschegesetz, GwG) at management level. The officer is the first line of defence against money laundering and terrorist financing and reports directly to the management board. Not every obliged entity must appoint one. Section 7 paragraph 1 GwG covers the entities in Section 2 paragraph 1 numbers 1 to 3, 6, 7, 9 and 15: credit, payment and securities institutions, crypto-asset service providers, life and accident insurers, asset managers and gambling operators, plus a deputy. For real estate agents, notaries, tax advisors, auditors, dealers in goods and art intermediaries the supervisor may instead order an appointment under Section 7 paragraph 3 GwG.

The work runs in four strands. The risk analysis under Section 5 GwG records which customers, products, distribution channels and countries expose the firm to risk, and why the chosen measures match. The internal procedures and controls under Section 6 GwG turn that into working instructions, responsibilities, monitoring rules and the whistleblowing channel under Section 6 paragraph 5 GwG. Customer due diligence under Sections 10 to 17 GwG governs how customers are identified, how beneficial owners are established through the Transparenzregister and how relationships are monitored. The suspicious activity report under Section 43 GwG closes the loop and goes without delay to the Financial Intelligence Unit through the goAML portal.

Appointment and removal of the officer and the deputy must be notified to the supervisor in advance under Section 7 paragraph 4 GwG. Section 7 paragraph 1 sentence 3 GwG places the officer directly below the management board, in practice the second management level, and Section 7 paragraph 5 GwG requires work in Germany with unimpeded access to data and systems. In institutions, Section 25h paragraph 7 KWG has one unit carry both this function and the prevention of other criminal acts.

An inspection rarely tests the officer's opinion, it tests the file: the current risk analysis with the date of its last review, training records with attendance lists, the reports to the management board, the case files including the reasoning where no report was filed, and the retention of at least five years under Section 8 GwG. Common findings are a risk analysis unchanged for years, monitoring thresholds nobody can justify, and an appointment with no documented deputy. Breaches are administrative offences under Section 56 GwG.