Prime property AML compliance experts, making compliance simple
Recently, governments and regulators have dramatically increased the requirements imposed on estate agents in relation to regulatory compliance.
Priority is now given to curbing all aspects of financial crime, especially money laundering. Consequently the UK laws require estate agents to police customers and transactions, viewing them under the microscope of Client Due Diligence.
To ensure this is performed to a standard acceptable to HMRC and other regulatory bodies, detailed guidance has been given on the policies, processes, assessment methodologies that should be adopted, glued together with a minimum level of understanding required.
“HMRC takes failure to comply with the Money Laundering Regulations extremely seriously, and we carry out regular checks to ensure customers are correctly following the rules.”
– HMRC Spokesman
Industry experts suggest that nearly a fifth of estate agents (19%) have been fined for anti-money laundering breaches and that the average fine was £11,842.
This is complex. It is concerning for many who are anxious about their internal processes, level of understanding and resolving the questions generated by transactions in day to day business life.
We provide a complete solution. Find out more.
THE COMPLETE SOLUTION
This is our end-to-end outsourced KYC/AML compliance solution. We provide a comprehensive service which meets prevailing regulatory requirements imposed on the firm. We will conduct your KYC & AML obligations to the necessary legal standard.
Bespoke Project Work
Extensive legislation imposes numerous requirements on Agents and most firms will encounter issues “for the first time” or require assurance on how they have addressed a specific challenge or answered a novel requirement. We provide the expertise you will require.
“We are going to seek out enablers to prosecute, to show it’s not just the major criminals but those who in the past have been hidden by the noise, by the traffic... If a transaction fails the sniff test, you should do something about it"
Ben Wallace, Minister of State for Security and Economic Crime (speaking at the Law Society's Anti-Money Laundering and Financial Crime Conference, November 2018)
Recurring questions for Estate Agents
- Is the KYC/AML risk assessment of their business appropriate and current?
- Do their CDD polices mitigate the identified risk?
- Are the policies adequately embedded within the firm?
- Has appropriate training been given and has it resulted in informed understanding of the risks the business faces?
- Is the nominated person adequately SARs trained?
- Are SARs submitted when justified?
- When is Standard Due Diligence appropriate?
- Is the threshold for Enhanced Due Diligence correct?
- Are you comfortable with source of wealth and source of funds explanations?
- Are you confident with the beneficial owner's analysis?
- Are records kept for 5 years in an accessible format?
- Is the culture in the firm supportive?
- Is the quality of the MLRO review and report adequate?
We can deal with all of this!
“If any person is not prepared to prove who they are you must terminate the business relationship and consider completing a suspicious activity report”
Want to know more?
Our professional and friendly team are on hand to answer your queries. Get in touch today.
