Bill Wiggin – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the HM Treasury

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Bill Wiggin on 2015-11-02.

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 29 October 2015 to Question 12970, for what reasons estate agents that do not hold client money fall within the scope of the Money Laundering Regulations 2007.

Harriett Baldwin

The Money Laundering Regulations 2007 sets out what regulated sectors (includes businesses such as estate agents) must do to prevent their services being used for money laundering and terrorist financing purposes. Money laundering can take many forms and in the property sector it often involves: (i) buying property using the proceeds of crime and selling it on; (ii) criminals hiding behind complex structures to disguise the true purpose of the transaction; (iii) paying an estate agent or auctioneer a significant deposit and reclaiming it later; and (iv) using purchase monies from a mortgage fraud.

Estate agents that do not hold client money fall within the scope of the Money Laundering Regulations 2007 in accordance with the requirements of article 2 1. (3) (d) of European directive 2005/60/EC of 26 October 2005 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purpose of money laundering and terrorist financing.

The Directive requires estate agents to exercise due diligence and to report suspicious transactions. Suspicious transactions, and preventing the inappropriate use of services, may arise in a variety of ways that do not involve handling funds. Estate agency businesses are well placed as they encounter both parties to the transaction at an early stage.