Estate agents who assist with the buying and selling of overseas property are now subject to new Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations if they are based in the UK.
According to the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), changes to these rules mean such professionals based in the UK who deal with these sorts of deals must comply with the guidelines from October 1st 2012 and register themselves with the bureau as soon as possible.
Some 7,000 estate agents and 6,000 consumer credit lenders have signed up with the OFT under AML Regulations to date.
This requirement follows a tribunal that upheld the OFT’s fine for estate agents who trade while unregistered, meaning those who fail to do so may be subject to a financial penalty or face prosecution.
The OFT has welcomed the decision of the First-Tier Tribunal, which dismissed Sussex-based estate agent Mansell McTaggart Limited’s appeal against a £3,000 fine handed to the organisation by the bureau for carrying out estate agent work without registering.
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