The Deutsche Bundesbank informs about changes in foreign trade reporting at the turn of the year 2024/2025.
On 1 January 2025, amendments to the Foreign Trade and Payments Ordinance (AWV) came into force, which are effective from the reporting month of January 2025. Among other things, new key figures for crypto values will be introduced. Please note the most important new regulations.
Detailed information on the changes is available on the website as follows:
Increase in the reporting thresholds
The reporting threshold for transaction reports will be raised to EUR 50,000. The transaction reports from financial institutions relating to travel and interest and dividend payments on domestic securities are excluded. The reporting threshold for holdings of receivables and liabilities is raised to 6 million euros.
Replacement of paper forms and submission format
The paper forms were replaced in 2013 by the introduction of electronic submission via data record formats. They were still part of the Foreign Trade and Payments Ordinance as Annexes 3 to 19.
Foreign Trade and Payments Ordinance and have now been replaced in the legal text by the survey characteristics (data points) in so-called survey charts. The survey charts are expected to be available in the revised General Reporting Portal Statistics (AMS) from mid-2025.
Changes in travel transactions
Payments in travel transactions made using foreign currency and foreign currency traveller’s cheques are no longer to be reported (this applies to codes 010 and 011). The reporting obligation for Annex Z13 of the AWV has been cancelled without replacement.
- Section 70 of the Foreign Trade and Payments Ordinance has been amended accordingly.
Changes for maritime shipping
The income of domestic shipping is no longer to be reported. The income and expenses of maritime shipping vis-à-vis foreigners must now be reported in accordance with Section 67 of the AWV. The general reporting exemption limit of 50,000 euros applies.
Harmonisation of the reporting deadlines
From the reporting month of January 2025, the 7th working day will be the standardised cut-off date for submitting transaction reports, regardless of the type of transaction. The cut-off date for holdings of receivables and liabilities will be standardised to the 10th working day. The reporting deadline for holdings of derivative financial instruments is the 50th working day after the end of a calendar quarter. The reporting deadline for holdings from direct investments remains unchanged.
New mandatory fields for foreign direct investment reports
Previously optional fields on the key figures of the German group (balance sheet total, annual turnover and number of employees) have become mandatory fields. This serves to more accurately record and analyse the economic activities of German companies.
Key figures for crypto assets
As a result of the growing importance of crypto values, new key figures are being introduced to enable a better allocation of these values. Further information on the key figures can be found in the directories on the Internet. Key index Deutsche Bundesbank Schlüsselverzeichnisse | Deutsche Bundesbank
Technical: Character set
Detailed information on the AWV amendments is available on the website (German).
Information on the AWV amendment/Entry into force January 2025
Informationen zur AWV Änderung Inkrafttreten Januar 2025
Source: Bundesbank Newsletter 2nd January 2025
