Germany plans to ease banking access for refugees

Frankfurt

GERMANY plans to ease the path for hundreds of thousands of people granted asylum in the country to set up bank accounts, while ensuring that anti-money laundering measures remain in place, the head of financial watchdog Bafin said on Wednesday.

Bafin and the German finance ministry have worked to draw up draft changes to banking laws covering the documentation and procedures necessary for refugees, some 800,000 of whom are expected to seek asylum in Germany this year.