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K3/K4: Conversion and submission of your foreign trade declarations to the German Central Bank
K3/K4 reporting service: It’s as easy as this:
- We send you the Excel templates for K3 and K4. You complete them and send them back to us.
- We convert the document into the required XML format.
- We send the XML file to the German Central Bank.
- You receive confirmation that your K3/K4 reports have been successfully submitted to the German Central Bank.
Background and legal basis: What are the K3 and K4 in the context of the AWV disclosure obligation?
K3 and K4 reports are annual notifications to the German Central Bank on the status of cross-border holdings in companies pursuant to Sections 64 and 65 of the Foreign Trade and Payments Regulation (Außenwirtschaftsvorordnung, AWV). These reports are included in the statistics for the stocktaking of direct investment. They provide information on the capital relations resulting from equity holdings of German nationals in enterprises abroad or equity holdings of non-residents in enterprises in Germany at a certain point in time.
On September 1, 2013, the Regulation amending the Foreign Trade and Payments Regulation came into force which made the electronic submission of foreign trade reports mandatory, with the exception of the K3 and K4 reporting forms. Their receipt was still accepted in paper form.
This exception ended on June 30, 2019. After this date, forms K3 and K4 will only be accepted in XML format.
Further information on the K3 and K4 annexes can be found on the German Central Bank website and in the corresponding information sheet:
