Last year, the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on money laundering warned that Australian residential property is a haven for international money laundering, particularly from China, and recommended that facilitators like real estate agents, lawyers and accountants be brought into the regulatory net.
The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) also warned last year that “laundering of illicit funds through real estate is an established money laundering method in Australia”.
Over the weekend, The Canberra Times reported that Australian housing has also become a haven for drug money, which has prompted calls to drag real estate agents into the regulatory net:
The rampant real estate market has presented a golden opportunity for criminals to launder millions of dollars in drug money in Australia over the past 12 months, according to police.
Evidence of criminal cash entering the already inflated local housing market has emerged…
New measures being weighed up by Justice Minister Michael Keenan and the anti-money laundering agency Austrac are expected to include requirements on real estate agents to do more to authenticate the source of funds being used to buy properties and the identities of buyers.
Not surprisingly, real estate agents are pushing back:
The real estate industry is expected to push back at any move to put the onus of proof on agents, with the Real Estate Institute of NSW warning on Friday that the government – which it claims has not yet consulted with it – would be creating a “legal minefield”.
Unbelievable. Real estate agents are paid handsomely for selling homes. So the least they can do is ensure that when said homes are sold, parties satisfy appropriate standards and laws, as is currently the case for dealers in financial products.
The same can be said for conveyancers, accountants and other ‘gatekeepers’ of Australian real estate, who should not be allowed to turn a blind eye when illegal activity occurs.
