The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors is the latest body to warns its estate agent members that they have a legal duty to report any suspicious transactions, following the revelations of Channel 4’s From Russia With Cash documentary.
It is also launching its own investigation into the revelations to see if they involve any RICS-regulated firms or members and promises “appropriate disciplinary action.”
The programme, in which a journalist posed as a corrupt Russian official looking to launder money, revealed what RICS calls the “shocking failure in ethical behaviour” by agents. The institution says this is “a sad indictment of standards in some parts of the industry [and] it will no doubt be a blow to public confidence in the wider property profession.”
The agents featured in the programme were Winkworth, Marsh & Parsons, Domus Nova, Chard and Bective Leslie Marsh.
“All estate agents have a legal duty to report any suspicions of transactions which they believe could involve fraudulent money laundering. Above and beyond these general legal requirements, RICS members and our regulated firms commit to the highest professional and ethical standards as a condition of membership” says Luay Al-Khatib, RICS director of regulation in the UK and Ireland.
“We have taken this opportunity to remind all RICS members of their responsibilities in protecting the UK property industry from involvement in criminal activity. We shall conduct our own investigation into any RICS regulated firms or members implicated by the Channel 4 documentary. Should it be necessary we will take appropriate disciplinary action.”
The National Association of Estate Agents has already launched its own investigation into the programme’s allegations and the agents identified in it.
.png)
.png)
Join the conversation
Jump to latest comment and add your reply
Good to see. Looks like this programme has highlighted a very tawdry, underhand side to estate agency. The way much of the public sees estate agents anyway. We can't really complain about the bad reputation we are given if people in our industry are willing to do stuff like this. We need to do all we can to weed out illegal practices like this, so it's refreshing that RICS are taking the allegations so seriously.
I watched the programme and it was pretty shocking, especially given the names involved. How stupid do some people have to be to take such risks? Pure greed, plain and simple.
Obviously, it doesn't follow that everyone in the industry is crooked because the agents involved in the programme behaved terribly, but there is clearly issues - small but significant ones - that need to be dealt with.
In situations like this, the industry tends to get very defensive, so it's pleasing to see that RICS and others are coming out condemning the conduct of the agents involved and promising to carry out thorough investigations into these practices. The relationship between the public and estate agents is not going to improve if heads continued to be buried in the sand.
Please login to comment