Corruption crackdown: RICS wants members to sign honesty pledge

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors is consulting members on the creation of a personal statement which they must sign to indicate their opposition to corruption. 

Members have until the end of July to give their views on the pledge statement, which requires agents and other members of RICS to agree to report any illegal activity they are aware of amongst others in the industry. 

They must also let their superios know if they receive charity sponsorship donations from suppliers that could be interpreted as bribes.

“The property sector is a well-known target for illegal financial activity because it is used as a vehicle to legitimise or clean the proceeds of illegally obtained funds, often in a single transaction” says the institution.

“As a global professional body, RICS has a responsibility to ensure that we set out the minimum requirements and obligations for our professionals and regulated firms to ensure their activities do not involve or facilitate bribery, corruption, money laundering or terrorist financing” explains Peter Bolton King, the former National Association of Estate Agents chief executive who is now the RICS Global Property Standards Director.

“It is ... imperative that our practitioners, regulated firms, clients of surveying services and other stakeholders participate in the consultation and that our final standard reflects the reality of a modern profession and professional practice” he adds.

You can see here the consultation process and the full proposed statement - which is international and high-level, and may be implemented hand-in-hand with national documents for each country.