Archive

Estate agents working with international individuals can face a significant risk of encountering money laundering activities. The complex nature of cross-border...

Software platform Alto Marketplace says it now has no fewer than 16 integrations across 13 categories including anti-money laundering, buyer onboarding...

Estate agents were fined a total of more than £3m in the nine months to September 2023 for failing to register...

Regulated firms across all sectors will be well aware of Know Your Customer (KYC) checks and their importance in combatting financial...

Regulated firms, particularly estate agents, who take on new business clients are leaving themselves exposed to serious red flags by not...

OneDome is offering free digital know-your-customer (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) checks for estate agents using its various home buying services.  The...

Digital compliance specialist SmartSearch can help estate agents comply quickly and efficiently Around one in five estate agents are not registered for...

There’s no question that trust is the bedrock of any longstanding client relationship. It is built on delivering on your promises...

SmartSearch looks at the importance of incorporating Source of Funds checks into KYC processes It is no secret that the UK property...

Estate agents are among falling numbers of regulated firms that aren’t checking sanctions and politically exposed persons (PEP) lists, research suggests. A...

Leading digital compliance firm SmartSearch has launched an innovative new solution to help professionals working within the UK property sector to...

Amidst mounting regulatory pressure and the escalating threat of financial crime, property firms must embrace innovation to protect themselves and their...

Recent research estimated that up to £100 billion is being stolen in the UK each year, with much of it due...

Agents are being warned that they risk financial and reputational costs by continuing to rely on manual methods of identity verification. It...

SmartSearch, the UK’s leading provider of digital compliance, has published an agenda-setting whitepaper to highlight the anti-money laundering shortcomings and sanctions...

AML experts SmartSearch warn estate agents that, with so many firms still hiding behind ‘opaque corporate structures,’ proper due diligence has...

Sanctions against Russian oligarchs are working but agents and property professionals are being warned against getting complacent when checking international buyer...

It has been another busy month for job moves in the estate agency sector. Here are some of the latest moves that...

Northern Ireland has been named as a potential hotspot for money laundering. New data from anti-money laundering software provider SmartSearch has identified...

Dozens of estate agents have been fined a combined total of £519,645 for failing to meet their obligations under anti-money laundering...

The Government’s mini budget on September 23 was anything but ‘mini’ with several major announcements one of the most significant of...

If recent headlines are anything to go by, estate agents and the wider property industry are not just feeling the heavy...

Zoopla-backed agency software provider Alto has announced the speaker line-up and agenda for its inaugural virtual event.  Altogether Live will take place...

Agents are ‘wrongly’ relying on hard copies of identity documents to verify people’s identities in anti-money laundering (AML) checks, new research...

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) recently published a list of firms that have received penalty notices for failure to meet their...

Property firms are still failing to make basic anti-money laundering checks (AML), and some may even unwittingly be helping politically exposed...

Anti-money laundering (AML) software provider SmartSearch is warning of a rise in financial crime, particularly targeting smaller property firms. A survey of...

Up to 70% of property firms have not changed their approach to onboarding new customers since sanctions were imposed on Russia...

As another round of property firms is fined, named and shamed for breaching anti-money laundering rules, it feels like the road...

Anti-money laundering specialist SmartSearch has reached 1,000 clients in the property industry. It comes amid increased scrutiny of money laundering amid sanctions...

House price growth may be slowing but there is still plenty of movement in the property jobs market. Here are some of...

In this latest ‘Women in Property’ edition of the Natter, I check in with Collette Allen, who was recently appointed as...

Estate agents and other property businesses need to ensure their customer screening processes are robust and up to date following extensive...

We know that agents rely heavily on property software solutions to run their agency, particularly to ease the burden of administrative...

The outcome of the Ukraine crisis is far from certain, but one thing has become abundantly clear. The long-overdue Economic Crime...

If the UK and its allies have been played by Russia over the Ukraine ‘invasion’, and it’s beginning to look that...

The UK property industry has long been a target of fraudsters due to the low levels of transparency and the fact...

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on all aspects of our lives, but undoubtedly one major negative side effect...

Compliance check list - are you New Year ready? The start of a new year is a great time for estate agents...

Estate agents are being urged to ensure their compliance procedures are up to scratch after fraudsters stole a man’s identity and...

The phrase ‘time is money’ is particularly pertinent for estate agents. Since the stamp duty holiday ended, the forecast drop in...

The Pandora Papers - the biggest ever leak of offshore data - has revealed that the UK’s property market is being...

Like most industries, estate agency is changing. A general trend to a more hybrid model, accelerated by the pandemic has resulted...

Regulators are warning the UK’s property, finance and legal sectors to be aware of the possible impacts of the exit from...

Recent research shows that when asked what their ideal working set up would be, most agents said ‘hybrid’* and with proposals...

The property market was expected to struggle to recover after the first lockdown, but, thanks to the stamp duty holiday and...

While running customer identification and verification checks is part and parcel of the onboarding process for estate agents, under UK anti...

Brexit means that the UK’s anti-money laundering laws are no longer governed by the European Union (EU), but any estate agents...

The Chancellor’s recent announcement that the stamp duty holiday would be extended for another three months was undoubtedly great news for...

The original stamp duty freeze, which started in July 2020, has already helped push house prices to a record high and...

Over a fifth of key businesses say they do not trust any element at all of automated anti-money laundering checks and...

The property market, and therefore, estate agents have been accused of being the 'weak link' in the UK’s money laundering defences. This...

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has been criticised for its lack of enforcement of anti-money laundering (AML) legislation so far in...

The last few months have been tough for the property sector, and the pressure will continue as estate agents across the...

A PropTech firm has launched a new facial recognition feature to its existing digital anti-money-laundering platform. Due to the restrictions on travel...

The government introduced the Fifth EU Money Laundering Directive into UK law just before Christmas - and it has a significant implication for...

The huge £215,000 fine levied on Countrywide for failing to abide by anti-money laundering procedures is a demonstration that estate agents...

Technology is transforming the way we comply with Anti Money Laundering (AML) regulation. It is providing a consistent approach, reliable outcomes...

Does your company apply adequate customer due diligence measures when carrying out estate agency work?  Does it establish and maintain appropriate policies...

A PropTech company boss says evidence given to MPs confirms the need to improve anti-money laundering processes through greater automation and...

A new anti-money laundering app has been launched which allows agents to conduct checks remotely.  The app allows access from devices -...