A big rise in the number of anti-money laundering (AML) breach fines issued to estate agencies recently has persuaded some 1,600 branches to complete their AML registration over the past 12 months, says Olly Thornton-Berry (pictured) of due diligence company Thirdfort.

Some 21,663 branches across the UK have registered with HMRC so far out of around 25,000 via the anti-money laundering supervisor for the estate agency sector, according to the latest data available from HMRC analysed by Thirdfort.

As reported in The Neg a few months ago, estate agencies have been fined a total of nearly £2 million for failing to register, or re-register with them for AML with individual fines varying from £1,500 to over £50,000.

These latest figure would therefore suggest that HMRC’s ‘carrot and stick’ tactic of fining as many agencies as possible is working.

Money laundering is a continuous risk for property professionals.”

Thornton-Berry adds: “Money laundering is a continuous risk for property professionals.

“HMRC and other regulators are stepping up their oversight and are issuing fines for regulatory failures. To avoid such penalties and protect their businesses and clients, all estate agents should register for money laundering supervision with HMRC.

“Once registered, agents can easily stay compliant, without hindering completion times, through implementing technologies like Thirdfort to make the client due diligence process simple, swift and secure.”

Thirdfort provides automated ID verification, anti-money laundering and Source of Funds checks for the property industry.