Monday, January 9, 2023

Three Odd Things You Notice in the German News

 1.  These two Iranian guys arrested for some poison-the-Germans situation?  The folks they were dealing with in Iran were not part of the Iranian gov't or Iranian security folks.  German news says.....it was a Sunni internal group.  

So at this point, no one is going to say it was gov't sponsored terrorism.

2.  A lot of chatter in the German news over the weekend about the lack of snow at ski resorts (central and south Germany).  Will end being one of the least productive ski seasons in several decades.  

I watched an interview....a ski-hotel operation that would normally have 300 guests right now.  The hotel was practically empty, and restaurant making next to nothing on profits.  

3.  There's been a new German law on the books (for a number of months) to require companies of a limited liability 'status' to be registered....to prevent tax evasion and money-laundering.  End-date for this requirement.....mid-summer of 2023.

The registration information?  You'd declare who really owns the company, their citizenship, their banking information and how the money moves from the cash register to the boss's pocket.  

Here's the thing....around 1.5 million companies in Germany fall into this status, but so far....only around 840,000 have registered.  

There is some belief (little facts) to suggest a fair number of companies....maybe into the thousands....are related in some way to Russian oligarch folks or drug cartels.  It's a silly notion, but we may arrive at mid-summer to find 20,000 companies just refusing to cooperate.  

What happens next?  Probably years of investigation.  

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