Impressive arsenal of rules and institutional procedures

In concert with other EU members, Germany has equipped herself with an
impressive arsenal of rules and institutional procedures designed to prevent
money laundering, or at least to make it more difficult. The same goes for the
fight against the misuse of German financial institutions for organised crime,
drug-trafficking, terrorism and other serious offences. Most of the rules are
impositions on service providers at risk of being abused, such as banks and
other financial institutions, investment consultants and agents, lawyers,
accountants and all businesses handling large amounts of cash. The customer’s
main awareness of these procedures generally comes from requests to positively
identify himself and to explain the circumstances of particular transactions in
rather more detail than might seem strictly necessary for smooth processing.