Money-laundering loopholes missed by property firms
Up to 70% of property firms surveyed for an anti-money laundering campaign have not changed their approach to onboarding new customers since sanctions were imposed on Russia after its invasion of Ukraine. The disturbing statistic is revealed in a comprehensive, cross-sector survey commissioned by SmartSearch, a UK provider of anti-money laundering (AML) software. The survey […]
Property sector AML registrations hits record high
Credas Technologies, the anti-money laundering checks provider, has revealed that a record number of AML checks were carried out during the first quarter of 2022 across the UK property industry, as the sector continued to wage war against those looking to exploit it for criminal gain. Internal data provided by Credas provides definitive proof that […]
AML horror stories from the front line
Brian Rogers is well known in the legal services sector as one of the founders of compliance software solution Riliance, and is now Regulatory Director at The Access Group. Having worked with law firms on a range of compliance issues for a number of years, Brian is well versed in the pitfalls and mistakes firms […]
AML within the property industry: why the two-tier approach?
Each year there are over 1.5 million homes listed for sale in the UK and the potential sellers of each all require anti-money laundering (AML) checks – often there’s more than one check per property in the case of joint ownership. Since June 2017, property buyers, at the point that an offer is accepted, are […]
Government’s intent to legislate on identity & legal sector response
The sad events in Ukraine have forced the government and the property industry to pay even more attention to where client money comes from and who their client is. This has had serious implications for the whole industry, not just for those exposed to foreign property transactions. Events in Ukraine forced the government to push […]
AML checks cost the property market £15.5m last year
Credas Technologies, an identity verification service, has revealed that there were an estimated 5.5m anti-money laundering (AML) and identity checks conducted across the UK property market over the last year, at a cost of £15.5m. AML and identity checks have been a legal requirement since April 2018, when the European Parliament passed the Fifth Money […]
Today’s Conveyancer Podcast – The Digital Identity Conundrum
In this episode of the Today’s Conveyancer Podcast, David Opie speaks with Stuart Young of MyIdentity about the work being done to improve the process of verifying the identity of home movers in the conveyancing process. The idea is to create a single verification of an individual’s identity which can then be used throughout the […]
Home Truths: Financial Crime in the Property Transaction
With criminals becoming ever more sophisticated, it’s critical that property professionals keep up to date to recognise the warning signs of fraud, understand new regulatory obligations and implement working practices that reduce their vulnerability to attack. To raise awareness within the industry, AML and digital ID specialist Thirdfort, is leading a panel discussion with experts […]
Index Property Information Confirms Webinar Series to Cover Residential and Commercial Leasehold Transactions
Index Property Information has announced a new series of ten, hour-long webinars focusing on residential and commercial leasehold transactions. The free sessions are suitable for any legal professional undertaking leasehold conveyancing and will examine a variety of common issues relating to residential and commercial leases, including how to provide best advice for clients. Index has […]
Firms who generate the most complaints will pay more
The Council for Licensed Conveyancers (CLC) has won approval to overhaul how it calculates and collects regulatory fees from the practices it regulates, so it can now recharge more of the cost of the Legal Ombudsman (LeO) to the firms that generate disproportionate levels of complaints. The oversight regulator, the Legal Services Board, has approved […]
Current AML regime “does little to prevent money laundering”
Changes to the money laundering regulations should focus on increasing the effectiveness of efforts to tackle money laundering through a more risk-based and proportionate approach, said the Law Society of England and Wales in response to HM Treasury’s (HMT) call for evidence. The Call for Evidence is now closed and will consider the overall effectiveness […]
Estate agents should do more to tackle conveyancing fraud
A leading compliance specialist in the estate agency market has suggested that estate agents should be doing more to support efforts to complete customer due diligence and tackle money laundering. Compliance Officer for The Guild of Property Professionals, Paul Offley, has said that agents should be following “best practice” to establish the legal/beneficial owner of […]
PII renewal remains challenging: Why? How can you mitigate against it?
By the time this article is published, we will have got through the key 1st October renewal date for SRA regulated Firms, following the immensely difficult CLC renewal earlier in the summer. Overall the Market for Legal Firms’ Professional Indemnity Insurance (PII) remains very challenging, and indeed we have seen some Firms simply being unable […]
NatWest admits to anti-money laundering offences
NatWest Bank has admitted to three charges relating to anti-money laundering failures. NatWest, the state-backed bank formerly known as Royal Bank of Scotland, will face “very large fines” according to experts, following its failure to prevent alleged money laundering of £365 million by a single customer. The criminal action, first announced by the Financial Conduct […]
HMLR Practice Guide updates
HM Land Registry (HMLR) has published details of changes to several Practice Guides in its latest update. First registrations (PG1) This guide deals with the procedure to be followed when applying for first registration of unregistered estates in land. It does not deal with the effects of registration or the characteristics of the various […]
Law firm and director fined over inadequate due diligence checks
A South London law firm, Topstone Solicitors Limited, and its director Silas Ogbonna have been fined for failing to complete proper due diligence checks on two property deals. Sanctions were imposed by the SRA following a regulatory settlement agreement that was approved by the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal. It was found at tribunal that due diligence […]
Legal Bricks launch Biometric face scanning ID checks
Legal Bricks have today announced the official launch of their Biometric face scanning ID checks – available as a standalone product or as part of their conveyancing client on-boarding portal, LB Connect. With the rise of fraud within conveyancing transactions, especially identity fraud, and tighter regulations around ID checks and the way clients are onboarded, […]
Data protection breaches have resulted in 1580% ICO fine increase
A report conducted by law firm RPC has revealed that fines for data protection breaches issued by The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) in the latest financial year have increased by 1580% compared to the previous year. The record £42 million in fines in the year 2020/21 represent those issued for data protection breaches and were mainly comprised […]
Work to be done on supervision of AML regime
The Office for Professional Body Anti-Money Laundering Supervision (OPBAS) has released its latest report on progress made in tackling money laundering by regulators over the past year. While this year’s report acknowledges that professional body supervisors (PBSs) within the accountancy and legal sectors have improved, it highlights differing levels of achievement and “significant weaknesses in […]
New Build Property and Environmental Compliance Risks
With modern construction practices and stringent planning processes in the UK, it is a common assumption that new or recent housing developments will have been constructed to an appropriate standard, with the correct measures in place to ensure that homes are free of future contaminated land liability. But, is this a safe assumption to make? […]