To ensure a good understanding of the provisions and approaches of the GwG, it is important – before describing the various instruments/tools – to know how the GwG defines the act of “money laundering”. Money laundering typically entails various phases. The following basic phases can be identified:
|
Phases |
Action |
|---|---|
|
1. Placement (Platzierung): |
Channelling unlawfully acquired assets into the financial or economic cycle via banks or other institutions. |
|
2. Layering (Herkunftsverschleierung): |
Performing a series of actions designed to thwart the tracing of the criminal origin/past of the assets. |
|
3. Integration (Überführung): |
The transfer or return of the assets which now consequently appear “legal” to the legitimate financial or economic cycle. |
