Real estate institute beefs up profession to spot money laundering

• Malaysia Institute of Estate Agents president Chan Ai Cheng said real estate is regarded as a professional practice and identified as a reporting institution for BNM in compliance with the AMLA.

KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 23): The Malaysia Institute of Estate Agents (MIEA) is supporting the government and Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) to get real estate practitioners to comply with the Anti-Terrorism and Money Laundering Act (AMLA).

In a statement today, its president Chan Ai Cheng said real estate is regarded as a professional practice and identified as a reporting institution for BNM in compliance with the AMLA.

MIEA noted that it has seen a rise in demand for good services from agents who transacted approximately 60% of transactions throughout Malaysia.

The statement said services from agents need to be upgraded and enhanced regularly. This benefits the people and allows the profession to grow.

Being a relatively young profession, there is a need for consistency and commitment in order to be relevant and progressive,” Chan said.

Being identified as a reporting institution, she said it is mandatory for agents to conduct customer due diligence (CDD), which requires the collection of identification documents, and to report suspicious buyers or tenants for possible money laundering issues, which is a “tough act” to follow.

In support of this, MIEA on Friday signed two memorandas of understanding (MOUs) with Halo Check Sdn Bhd and CRE Tech Sdn Bhd.

The statement said agents can subscribe to a web application called HALOCHECK to conduct an instant customer check on landlords, tenants, sellers and buyers.

The collaboration with CRE Tech involves a listing platform known as BRIQ BLOQ to access detailed commercial listing information and vacancies directly from landlords.