Account terminated on suspicion of money laundering — your options

Under the Geldwäschegesetz (GwG, German Anti-Money Laundering Act), credit institutions must apply enhanced due diligence obligations as soon as they identify an increased risk — for example, if a business relationship has links to a third country classified by the EU as high-risk. A recently published order confirms: this alone is sufficient for the bank as an objective reason for ordinary termination of the current account — irrespective of whether it could carry out the enhanced review at all or whether the customer would pay for the additional effort.

What is remarkable is what the bank may rely on: not only official sanctions lists, but also current press coverage. In the case decided, media reports about connections to a sanctioned foreign ministry were sufficient to justify the heightened risk classification — the bank did not have to wait until an authority took official action.

Rules nonetheless apply to the termination itself: in the case of an open-ended framework contract for payment services, the bank must observe a notice period of at least two months and may not terminate at an inopportune time. There is no general obligation to contract (Kontrahierungszwang) for business customers that would require the bank to resume the business relationship — not even in the case of public-law institutions.

Important for practice: anyone who notices that the bank has doubts about the business relationship should react immediately — not wait. In the case decided, the customer's application for interim relief also failed because, despite the termination having been announced early, he remained inactive for several months before seeking judicial protection. Anyone who looks for an alternative in good time and documents their own position will be in a considerably better position in the end.