The large capital sums involved in commercial real estate transactions are an attractive target for money launderers. For that reason, several international jurisdictions have recognised the need to make real estate agents responsible for conducting due diligence to prevent money laundering through real estate.
Such legislation is already active in Europe and, from January 2019, real estate agents in New Zealand will also face stiff penalties for non-compliance with new anti-money laundering laws.
The latest version of Surga Central, a leading PropTech platform for commercial real estate, now offers an Anti-Money Laundering (AML) module. Using this technology, commercial brokers can conduct customer due diligence and assess the risk of whether a commercial real estate deal is exposed to money laundering or terror financing. Identity information can be recorded for contacts together with associated documents that have been used to assess and check the identity of the parties involved in the transaction.
Surga Central also allows an agency to secure confidential information and restrict access to those responsible for AML compliance, thereby removing the threat of conflict of interest between brokers and compliance staff.
Surga Central is used by leading agencies and brokerage firms to market, sell and lease commercial property. UK customers include Houston Lawrence, Ayers & Cruiks, Goodsir Commercial, Domain Office Search, Matthew Blair Solutions and Smiddy & Co. Australian and New Zealand customers include Colliers International Wellington, CI Australia, Gross Waddell, Allard Shelton, Beller Commercial and members of the Knight Frank network.