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

Christina Hund (DE)
EU Blocking Regulation Opinion
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…
Bribery and money laundering considerations for joint ventures
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
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Money laundering prevention within the German real estate sector
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…
Draft bill on implementation of 5MLD
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 –…