Germany has become the latest country to agree on a plan to legalise recreational cannabis use among adults in a move that presents significant opportunities for investments in the EU’s largest economy. The Federal Cabinet has approved the key points paper for the legalisation, however a concrete draft law will only be presented once it … Continue Reading
This week, the European Commission is reportedly expected to present a legal proposal to make the evasion of sanctions an EU crime. This step will equip EU countries with a legal tool to confiscate frozen assets as part of the measures taken against Russia. It is estimated that to date around €30 billion in assets … Continue Reading
On 12 May 2021, Advocate General Hogan issued his opinion in the first case by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) considering the Blocking Regulation. The Opinion, in Case C-123/20 Bank Melli Iran v Telekom Deutschland GmBH [2018], sets out proposals for how the CJEU should respond to a reference from the Regional … Continue Reading
Introduction Whatever the legal form of a joint venture, the collaboration and joint participation in the JV’s business objectives can present an enhanced corruption risk. This is because in some circumstances, a company entering into a JV could be criminally liable for the corrupt actions of its JV partner, the JV itself, or third parties … Continue Reading
In recent years, Germany has increasingly focused on implementing regulations and provisions linked to money laundering prevention. In doing so, Germany has followed EU requirements including the recently passed 5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive (Directive [EU] 2018/843 of 30 May 2018). Whereas both EU and German legislation have been traditionally focused on the prevention of the … Continue Reading
The German Federal Ministry of Finance (“BMF”) has prepared and circulated to certain interest groups a first draft bill on the national implementation of the Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (Directive (EU) 2018/843 – “5MLD”). The draft bill provides for various changes to German regulatory acts such as the German Money Laundering Act (Geldwäschegesetz – “GwG”) … Continue Reading
In a joint statement on 31 January 2019, France, Germany and the UK (together, E3) announced the creation of a payment channel SPV (Instrument in Support of Trade Exchanges, INSTEX) to offer European companies a settlement option in relation to their Iranian business activities. INSTEX aims to facilitate legitimate trade between European companies and Iran, focusing … Continue Reading
On 11 December 2018, the German Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) published its Guidance Notes on the German Money Laundering Act (Auslegungs- und Anwendungshinweise zum Geldwäschegesetz – Guidance Notes). I. Legal basis Pursuant to the German Money Laundering Act (GwG), BaFin has to provide obliged entities belonging to the financial sector with (regularly updated) interpretation and application … Continue Reading
