Three firms of estate agents were recently fined £246,000 for failing to put in place proper anti-money laundering processes. This is a reminder that estate agents are regulated by the Money Laundering Regulations. They must be registered with HMRC as their regulator for money laundering compliance purposes.
Socrates is shortly launching a complete AML service for estate agents comprising:
The idea is that firms can leave it to us to guide them through this complex area. Our aim is to free up subscribers to focus on running their business as much as possible.
Lettings work is not covered by the money laundering regulations. However money laundering issues can still arise, e.g. if tenants offer to pay rent in cash, or you have reason to believe either tenant or landlord is committing offences. Our training and manual explains all this, and what one should do.