Germany to Fight Dirty Money With New Financial Crime Watchdog

The German government will set up a new authority for fighting financial crime as it seeks to shed its reputation for lax money laundering controls.

Cabinet signed off on a draft law on Wednesday to establish a body that will oversee analysis of suspicious transactions, investigations and money laundering supervision by other authorities across the country, the finance ministry said in a statement.

Last year, the global Financial Action Task Force said Germany hadn’t done enough to prevent the flow of illicit gains and noted a lack of coordination among more than 300 relevant authorities in Europe’s largest economy. Germany’s ...