The German government plans to open a new office with the aim of better combatting financial crime. "We are now bundling the various areas of competence in the fight against money laundering into a new authority with sufficient staff and a modern IT infrastructure," Finance Minister Christian Lindner said.
The Cabinet gave the green light for Lindner's plans on Wednesday. "Only in this way will we succeed in ensuring that the big fish will also be caught in the net in future," the minister said.
He spoke of "a new era in the fight against financial crime." The new authority is to coordinate analysis, criminal investigations and supervision, he said.
Plans also include a centre that will focus on investigating large, international money laundering cases with a connection to Germany, which will have the same powers as prosecution authorities.
The investigation centre is to start looking into suspicious financial flows in order to uncover the crimes behind them - a concept titled "follow the money." This should lead more directly to professional backers and networks, the minister explained.
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