Structuring" is the deliberate splitting of larger sums into smaller amounts in order to circumvent thresholds.
The Money Laundering Act provides for certain threshold values for transactions in specific sectors, above which obligated parties must implement their obligations under the Money Laundering Act. These thresholds can be circumvented through structuring. If, for example, KYC checks only have to be carried out above a certain threshold, the sums to be laundered are broken down into smaller amounts.
In the case of jewellers and traders of precious metals, for example, individual items could be regularly acquired by the same person, the amount of which is below the threshold value in each case, without there being a comprehensible reason. This makes it possible for money launderers to circumvent identification and documentation even in the case of larger, accumulated sums and thus to conceal the origin of funds. Even though it is difficult to identify this form of money laundering in practice, such attempts must be reported. If no report is made, a company is in danger of making itself liable to prosecution in case of doubt.