Cars, yachts, watches and other luxury goods let illicit funds become assets that hold value, confer status and resell easily — integration in a single purchase, which is why cash deals in goods are an AMLD trigger in their own right.
The rating above is indicative — it reflects inherent risk as assessed in the published frameworks, not a verdict on any business. Entire industries serve these sectors as business as usual; the rating your firm actually applies comes from its own business-wide risk assessment, where the sector factor combines with your customer base, controls and risk appetite.
The EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive makes any person trading in goods an obliged entity where payments of EUR 10,000 or more are made or received in cash — a threshold aimed squarely at the luxury segment, where one transaction can integrate substantial criminal proceeds, and which the incoming EU-wide cash limit will tighten further.
The typologies are consistent: vehicles and vessels bought for cash and promptly exported, third parties paying for goods they will never own, and dealers targeted precisely because they are less practised at customer due diligence than banks. Yachts and prestige vehicles are a standing feature of the local market, which keeps the exposure practical rather than theoretical.
Dealers must apply customer due diligence on qualifying cash transactions, identify who is really paying, refuse or report structured cash, and file suspicious-transaction reports. Sector risk combines with geography, the customer’s profile and the product to set the overall rating — and every client still needs sanctions, PEP and adverse-media screening on the parties themselves.
