Analysis of Reports and Information

(1) The Financial Intelligence Unit shall, for the performance of its tasks, receive and process the following reports and information: 1. reports from obliged entities under section 43 and reports from supervisory authorities under section 44, 2. communications from tax authorities under section 31b of the Fiscal Code, 3. information transmitted to it a) under Article 5(1) of Regulation (EC) No 1889/2005 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 October 2005 on controls of cash entering or leaving the Community (OJ L 309, 25.11.2005, p. 9), and b) under section 12a of the Customs Administration Act, and 4. other information from public and non-public sources within the scope of its remit.
(2) The Financial Intelligence Unit shall analyse suspicious transactions and other information relevant to money laundering, associated predicate offences, or terrorist financing, with the aim of preventing and detecting money laundering and terrorist financing and supporting the fight against them. The nature and scope of the analysis shall be oriented to the money laundering or terrorist financing risk involved. For the risk-appropriate identification of relevant reports and information, the Financial Intelligence Unit may use automated data-analysis applications under section 29(2a) (risk assessment systems). In doing so, the principle of economic administration shall also be taken into account. The transmission of matters under section 32(2), first sentence shall be initiated by a public official. The risk assessment systems shall be reviewed regularly as to whether they achieve their objective, including by way of random sampling. The Financial Intelligence Unit shall determine the parameters of the review in automated data-analysis applications under section 29(2a), first sentence, no. 1, in consultation with representatives of the law enforcement authorities, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the Federal Intelligence Service, and the Military Counter-Intelligence Service of the Federal Ministry of Defence. In doing so the Financial Intelligence Unit may, beyond the analysis obligation under the first sentence, take account of parameters for identifying reports and information relevant to other criminal offences. For the areas of the interior, justice and finance, the competent Land ministry or Senate administration shall determine the representatives of the law enforcement authorities of the respective Land, and for the Federal Prosecutor General at the Federal Court of Justice, the Federal Ministry of Justice. Details of the risk assessment systems may not be published, insofar as publication could jeopardise the performance of the statutory tasks of the Financial Intelligence Unit, the law enforcement authorities, the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution, the Federal Intelligence Service, or the Military Counter-Intelligence Service of the Federal Ministry of Defence.
(2a) The Financial Intelligence Unit is authorised to carry out analyses independently of whether a report exists under sections 43 and 44, insofar as this is necessary for the performance of its tasks.
(3) The Financial Intelligence Unit may, independently of whether a report exists, obtain information from obliged entities, insofar as this is necessary for the performance of its tasks. It shall allow the obliged entity a reasonable period to respond to its request for information. Obliged entities under section 2(1), nos. 10 and 12 may refuse to provide the information insofar as the request for information relates to information they received in the course of providing legal advice or representation in legal proceedings for the contracting party. The obligation to provide information nonetheless remains where the obliged entity knows that the contracting party is or was using the legal advice for the purpose of money laundering or terrorist financing.