EU-weite Studie über die Risiken der Geldwäsche im EU-ETS
Emissions certificates traded in the EU ETS are in principle - just like any financial product - subject to the risk of money laundering. This has already been shown by an initial study conducted in Germany (see link below).
Due to the limitation to registry accounts administered in Germany, an overall assessment on the risks in the countries participating in the EU-ETS is necessary. Hence, the outcome of this new survey is open and impartial. It may well show that risks are either non-existent in a specific country or only marginally present in individual sectors.
In the first ongoing step qualitative interviews with selected account holders proposed by their National Emissions Trading Authorities and with experts on emissions trading are held. The interviews focus on individual assessment of money laundering risks in emissions trading in the respective country.
The main part of the study will start in late autumn 2020 with a web-based survey throughout Europe. All account holders and authorized representatives will be requested to complete the questionnaire regardless of whether they have any experience or suspicions of money laundering. Even if respondents consider the risk of money laundering to be low or they are not familiar with the topic, they will still contribute to the representativeness of the findings.
All information and findings will be evaluated in strict confidence. In the later report, it will not be possible to link the answers in either the interviews or the subsequent web-based survey to any participating company or person.
The study findings will be made available in English to all national administrators participating in the EU-ETS and will be published as part of the research reports of the Federal Environment Agency in Germany in order to derive recommendations for action to help prevent money laundering. As with the first study, results and conclusions will be discussed within the CCEG Registry.
The empirical study conducted in Germany “Detecting money laundering in emissions trading” examines the risks of German registry users. Report is available here:
https://www.umweltbundesamt.de/publikationen/detecting-money-laundering-in-emissions-trading