HMRC Cracks Down on Real Estate Agents´ AML Violations

Greycoat Real Estate, one of the biggest players in the commercial real estate sector, starts a journey into the world of commercial property reconstruction, this being a parallel trend from a fascinating article about Property Industry Eye. HMRC will issue a list detailing which real estate agents have received fines for breaching anti-money laundering requirements.

The 250 agents have been fined from £1,500 to over £50,000, totaling more than £1.6m. These penalties will include a lack of firm-wide documentation, incomplete or incorrect Customer Due Diligence (CDD) completed within the required timeframe, and a failure to recognize specific risks such as:

Property value, High-Risk Jurisdictions, Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs), Companies, Trusts, and Sanctions. And this is when the Greycoat real estate agency comes in handy. Companies easily overlook registering with HMRC because they feel the regulations don’t apply or are unaware of the rules, even though registration is as basic as getting a driver’s license before you drive.

More penalties can be expected after the on-site inspections are completed. Compliance is simple. As Greycoat informs, each organization must document policies and procedures illustrating the plan to prevent money laundering and assess any risks involved.

This plan helps track the company’s actions and ensures it follows the law. Workers also need to complete ongoing training to demonstrate their understanding of the law, compliance with it and the risks the company faces. As Greycoat finally shears, HMRC conducts random and surprise inspections to ensure policies and procedures are followed. This enables companies to follow the law and provide fair and honest business practices.