Among the list of businesses failing to comply with money laundering regulations (MLRs) were property agents failing to comply with regulatory needs to register with HMRC at the required time – leaving some businesses with thousands of pounds to pay.
One agent was fined £6,300 by HMRC for failing to apply for registration at the required time, while another had been found to have failed to conduct due diligence as well as issues with timing of verification, leaving them with £5,250 to pay as a result.
A third agent had been found to breach a variety of regulations, including failing to have the correct policies, controls and procedures as well as failing to conduct due diligence – an error which cost the agent £6,591.
AML compliance checklist
This checklist will highlight areas for improvement in your business. It covers questions which may be asked during a supervisory inspection by HMRC in relation to anti-money laundering (AML) and the counter financing of terrorism (CFT).
Anti-money laundering for agents
As per the Fifth Money Laundering Directive, all property agents and auctioneers must put in place procedures to anticipate and prevent money laundering. This reduces the risk that criminals may exploit businesses for financial crime.
To defend against money laundering, there is a legal responsibility to undertake Customer Due Diligence (CDD) on the buyer and seller before establishing a business relationship or carrying out the transaction.
Propertymark members have voluntarily chosen to hold themselves to a higher professional standard by choosing to be regulated, despite this not being a legal requirement.
Our compliance team regularly monitors the registration of our members with HMRC and where they have failed to do so, this is rectified as quick as is possible. In this way, Propertymark members are granted a level of fool-proofing against these kinds of penalties.
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