Category: HMRC

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) recently published a list of firms that have received penalty notices for failure to meet their anti-money laundering (AML) obligations, and almost half were in the property sector. In a list of 79 firms that had breached AML regulations between April and December last year, more than 30 were estate agents, commercial property firms, valuers and auction houses, meaning property firms accounted for almost half (44%) of all AML breaches during that time period. Why are HMRC clamping down on estate agents? The property market is one of the most vulnerable sectors in the UK…

A technology platform claims that as many as a third of lettings agencies that should be compliant with anti-money laundering regulations are in fact non-compliant. From October last year, letting agents who deal in rental properties worth more than €10,000 or £8,300 a month must be registered for AML purposes with HM Revenue and Customs. Now Credas Technologies has surveyed 1,000 property professionals and claims the vast majority would like to see HMRC act more proactively to deter money laundering, as almost a third believe their own AML compliance procedures would fail. In the survey, when asked about the importance…

1) Summary1.1 Certain types of legitimate business services can be attractive to criminals, who exploit them to launder money or finance terrorism. Life is made easier for criminals when insufficient controls are in place. It is therefore essential that businesses put in place adequate measures to prevent criminals from using their services to launder money and finance terrorism. 1.2 HMRC is one of 25 Anti-Money Laundering (AML) supervisors in the UK. HMRC delivers its supervisory responsibility through its Anti-Money Laundering Supervisory (AMLS) teams. HMRC helps ensure that businesses comply with the current Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds…