Business crime and sanctions

Unlike its predecessors, the coalition agreement does not envisage a comprehensive reform of corporate criminal law. It remains uncertain whether the new coalition will pick up the plans outlined in the previous government's coalition agreement to revise regulations on corporate sanctions, including fines, or pursue the specific commitment made by the last Grand Coalition to enact legislation aimed at strengthening integrity in business (read more here). However, targeted measures are planned that hold significant implications for specific areas of business crime.

Sanctions

As expected, the coalition reaffirms its commitment to the existing policy and pledges to effectively implement EU sanctions in response to the Ukraine conflict (lines 287 et seq.). The government also demonstrates similar efforts in enforcing sanctions against Iran and addressing human rights violations globally (lines 4090 et seq.).

Although not explicitly mentioned, attention will likely be on implementing the EU Directive on the definition of criminal offences and penalties for the violation of EU restrictive measures, expected to be transposed into national law by May 2025 (read more here). Additionally, the 17^th EU sanctions package will be in the spotlight.

Anti-money laundering

The Grand Coalition recognises the fight against money laundering and financial crime as a crucial task (lines 1543 et seq.). It is evident that another patchy evaluation by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), as Germany received in 2022, should be avoided. During the last legislative period, the law to combat financial crime (read more here) already failed at the last minute due to the collapse of the former government.

The new coalition agreement largely builds on the previous legislative plans. In particular, it promises comprehensive measures to consolidate competencies. The Federal Financial Crime Agency, which was proposed by the previous administration and allegedly did not receive support from the CDU/CSU, is not explicitly mentioned. However, improvements in the exchange and collaboration between national and international organisations, especially the newly established EU Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA, read more here), are planned. Moreover, the coalition plans to address gaps in the transparency register in line with EU law as well as ambitions from the last legislative period, though the specific implementation details are yet to be determined.

Furthermore, it is – unusually specific for a coalition agreement – stipulated that obliged entities may not conduct transactions over 10,000 euros if beneficial owners cannot be identified. Depending on how those plans are implemented, this could have significant practical implications. Specifically, the relatively low threshold for transaction bans necessitates that obligated parties thoroughly analyse their clients' structures to accurately identify the beneficial owners.

As a side note, in the future, telephone surveillance and online searches for money laundering offences will no longer require predicate offences (lines 2838 et seq.). This aims to give investigators the flexibility needed to investigate and prosecute money laundering cases, showing the coalition's commitment to intensifying its fight against money laundering.

Asset seizure

The coalition agreement also lists several measures pertaining to the seizure and confiscation of assets:

•  A procedure will be established to secure significant suspicious assets if there are doubts about their legal acquisition (suspicious wealth order, lines 1553 et seq.). There are precedents in other jurisdictions, but the concrete implementation in Germany will be interesting (e.g., regarding the definition of suspicious circumstances or a threshold for significant value assets).
• Seizure procedures for assets of unclear origin will undergo further reforms, seeking a complete reversal of the burden of proof to address practical shortcomings of the current rules that have been reformed in 2017 (lines 1556 et seq.). The Grand Coalition of the 18^th legislative period initially included this mission in their coalition agreement. However, it was not fully implemented within the context of the reforms in 2017, resulting in practical issues with the application of the new regulations.
• The coalition charts uncertain territory by proposing further adaptations based on extensive recommendations from a dedicated working group (lines 2875 et seq.). In particular, it is not specified whether those recommendations will be fully or partially implemented.

Tax evasion

The Grand Coalition vows to fight tax evasion. Its plans for additional measures to prevent unjustified benefits in dividend taxation (cum-cum transactions) are specifically relevant to business crime (lines 1515 et seq.).

Cybercrime law

Given the increasing importance of cybercrime (see more information here), the Grand Coalition acknowledges a need for action in this area. While their plans hold some relevance for companies, each organisation must still independently prepare for potential cyber incidents.

On the one hand, the Grand Coalition aims to close gaps in prosecution. Beside topics less relevant to economic law, the coalition agreement particularly envisages tightening sanctions for platforms with systematic shortcomings in removing illegal content (lines 2882 et seq.). Furthermore, the coalition wants to bolster the Federal Criminal Police Office and the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution to effectively combat cybercrime (lines 2648 et seq.).

On the other hand, the coalition agreement focuses on general cybersecurity enhancement (lines 2675 et seq.). The Grand Coalition aims to bolster awareness and support for cybersecurity measures as well as for the implementation of the Cyber Resilience Act. Other priorities are the development of a national cyber security strategy and the implementation of the NIS 2 Directive, including in the area of critical energy infrastructure.

Environmental crime

The fight against environmental crime is also seen as an important area of activity (lines 2869 et seq.). Specifically, the coalition agreement commits to enhancing European and international cooperation in combating environmental crime and envisages a national action plan with goals and measures for effectively prosecuting these offences. This should also be viewed in the European context, considering the obligation to implement the EU Environmental Crime Directive (read more here), which was adopted last year, by May 2026.

Criminal procedure law

Finally, the Grand Coalition plans a fundamental overhaul of the Code of Criminal Procedure to ensure effective prosecution (lines 2046 et seq.). The implementation of these plans and their implications for business crime are yet to be determined.