AML breaches see significant number of estate agents fined by HMRC

Dozens of estate agencies have been fined by HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) for failing to comply with anti-money laundering regulations.

HMRC recently published a list of the 240 entities that make up a total of £3.2 million in fines handed out between 1st July and 31st December 2022 by HMRC for breaching Money Laundering Regulations.

Amongst this list there were around 100 estate agencies across the United Kingdom.

Certain types of business are required to register with HMRC for supervision regarding Money Laundering Regulations.

HMRC said work with other enforcement agencies and government departments to tackle economic crime and crack down on breaches is “working to drive non-compliant firms out of business”.

This, they say, means that the number of money service businesses has fallen by around a third from 1,508 in 2020 to 1,049 in 2023, and the number of money service business agents has reduced from 35,507 to 30,217 in the same period.

Nick Sharp, HMRC’s Deputy Director of Economic Crime, Fraud Investigation Service, said:

“Money laundering is not a victimless crime. We are here to help businesses protect themselves from criminal attacks and will continue to tackle the minority of businesses which do not comply with the Money Laundering Regulations.

Serious and organised crime costs the UK billions of pounds every year and our anti-money laundering supervision is a vital tool in combatting that.”

Other firms on the list included those providing vital services to the community, offering currency exchange, money transmission, and cheque cashing.

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