As of: February 2, 2024, 8:51 a.m
By: Pia Sofie Bartmann
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Press
Split
The upper limit for cash payments has been decided.
The European Parliament and the EU states are taking stronger action against money laundering with new measures.
Hamm – card, Paypal or the options offered by your smartphone: Most companies these days offer their customers various cashless payment options.
Contactless payment methods became increasingly popular, especially during the Corona pandemic.
Nevertheless, many people still prefer cash, especially for larger amounts.
With the upper limit, new rules and measures will now apply to sellers and customers,
reports
wa.de.
The new law prohibits cash payments of more than 10,000 euros in the EU.
In order to take greater action against money laundering, the evasion of sanctions or the financing of terrorist activities and to close legal loopholes, additional measures should be taken.
Upper limit for cash decided: Changes to cash payments are coming
In concrete terms, this means: In the future, you will only be allowed to pay a maximum of 10,000 euros in cash across Europe.
The EU member states and the European Parliament must now formally agree to the new law so that it can come into force.
At the same time, the following measures are intended to make the fight against financial crime easier:
Sellers of luxury goods such as jewelers, yacht sellers or art dealers must verify the identities of their customers.
Suspicious transactions must be reported to the authorities immediately.
For cash payments of 3,000 euros, the buyer's data must be recorded for later tracing.
Stricter monitoring of cryptocurrencies and businesses of the super-rich with assets of more than 50 million euros.
EU-wide registration of company owners with a share of at least 25 percent.
Professional football clubs should also fall under this regulation from 2029, as investments worth several billion often involve third countries.
This is intended to make it impossible for Russian oligarchs to circumvent the EU sanctions that came into force as a result of the war of aggression against Ukraine.
From 2029, the new law will also affect all first division football clubs such as FC Bayern Munich or Borussia Dortmund as well as player agents.
Cash cap: New authority should ensure order
Until now, in Germany, payments over 10,000 euros were only required to show ID and prove the origin of the money.
In France and Spain, however, there are already legal upper limits of 1,000 and 3,000 euros respectively.
However, private sales are excluded from this.
A new European anti-money laundering authority (AMLA) will enforce the regulations.
In December, EU member states and Parliament agreed to set up such an authority.
However, it is not yet clear where exactly their location will be.
Federal Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD) had already addressed the cash limit in 2022 and presented a 20-point plan to combat organized crime.
However, the FPD viewed this proposal as critical.
CSU MP Markus Ferber also spoke out against the 10,000 euro limit.
Upper limit for cash payments: criticism from consumer advocates
“The fight against money laundering should not be confused with the fight against cash.
There shouldn't have been a 10,000 euro limit either.
“We now have to be very careful that this number is not fundamentally called into question again the next time the regulation is revised,” says Ferber.
He also sees the inclusion of professional football in the debate as questionable: “Putting professional football under suspicion of money laundering, but not other sports, is a completely arbitrary decision.
Instead of such a quick fix, a careful impact assessment would actually have been needed,” he explains.
According to Handelsblatt,
there is
also criticism from consumer advocates.
The Federal Association of Consumer Organizations has stated that not all cash users should be placed under general suspicion.
You see restrictions, for example with car purchases, technical problems or Schufa information.
At the same time, however, effective measures against money laundering would be unavoidable.
If you need cash in an emergency, there are a few tips on how many euros you should always have at home.