Investigators searched Germany's financial intelligence unit Tuesday over suspicions that staff failed to turn over intelligence linked to a money-laundering probe, in possible violation of criminal law.
The top official of an international group of 164 financial intelligence units has voiced concern that last week's unprecedented police raid on Germany's anti-money laundering body at the behest of state prosecutors could undermine its independence.
Germany’s financial intelligence unit has cleared a backlog of thousands of unprocessed suspicious transaction reports, or STRs, but still faces an uphill struggle to regain the confidence of bankers and compliance officers, sources told ACAMS moneylaundering.com.