Publication
UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism: how will it work?
In February, we reported on the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero’s confirmation that a UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) would be bought into force by 2027
Publication | December 2018
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).
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 notes for the implementation of the due diligence and internal safeguard measures to prevent money laundering. Within their scope of application, the Guidance Notes supersede the previous notes which had been prepared by the associations of the financial sector in cooperation with BaFin and which have become partly obsolete with the transposition of Fourth EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive (Directive (EU) 2015/849 – AMLD4) on 26 June 2017. This is particularly relevant for the Notes of German Banking Industry Committee (Hinweise der Deutschen Kreditwirtschaft – GBIC Notes) dated 1 February 2014.
The Guidance Notes are addressed, inter alia, to the following obliged entities:
The Guidance Notes are immediately binding for these obliged entities; internal compliance measures, guidelines and processes have to be adjusted with immediate effect. In this context, it is of particular importance to note that the penalties for violations of the GwG have been significantly increased in connection with the implementation of AMLD4. Obliged financial sector entities could incur administrative penalties of up to EUR 5 million or up to 10 percent of the preceding year's aggregate turnover.
Obliged entities outside the financial sector (e.g., real estate agents, organisers and retailers of games of chance, traders in goods), are, however, not bound by the Guidance Notes. Further clarification of the provisions of the GwG for these obliged entities is to be provided by the respective competent supervisory authorities.
The Guidance Notes clarify some of the questions that had arisen in connection with the implementation of AMLD4 and the relating restatement of the GwG. At the same time, however, it is to be noted that the Guidance Notes are, in some respects, less detailed than the GBIC Notes. Of the numerous individual questions, we would like to address only two topics of the Guidance Notes Interpretation and Application Notes that are of particular relevance in practice:
Obliged entities belonging to the financial sector should examine whether their internal compliance measures are in line with the requirements of the Guidance Notes. In practice, one of the challenges will be that the Guidance Notes provide significantly less practical examples when compared to the GBIC Notes. The obliged entity itself is responsible for identifying and deciding whether or not any measures are to be taken. In order to avoid allegations of incorrect implementation - or lack - of compliance measures (which could result in substantial fines), the internal compliance measure should be carefully assessed.
Publication
In February, we reported on the Department of Energy Security and Net Zero’s confirmation that a UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) would be bought into force by 2027
Publication
International financial markets have started to show significant interest in nature and biodiversity. Whilst climate change and greenhouse gas emissions have made the headlines in recent years, there has been much less focus on their equally important counterparts, nature and biodiversity. However, that has started to change.
Publication
In April 2024, the UK Government published details of its sustainable aviation fuel mandate (the UK SAF Mandate) and launched a consultation on proposals for a revenue certainty mechanism to support UK sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) production.
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