Written answer by Ministry of National Development on responsibility to conduct customer due diligence and report suspicious transactions for real estate transactions

Question No.: 2161

Question by: Mr Chua Kheng Wee Louis

To ask the Minister for National Development under the current anti-money laundering and counter terrorism financing rules governing real estate transactions, whether the obligations to conduct customer due diligence and to report suspicious transactions rest on buyers and sellers themselves or only on the regulated intermediaries such as, but not limited to, the lawyers and accountants involved in the transaction.

Answer:

To guard against money laundering and counter terrorism financing, including in the area of real estate transactions, the Government has in place a legal and regulatory framework where gatekeepers - such as financial institutions, lawyers, accountants and real estate salespersons - have to comply with anti-money laundering requirements including the conduct of customer due diligence.

Under the legal and regulatory framework, the financial institutions are under strict requirements to conduct rigorous Know Your Customer (KYC) processes when accounts are opened and Customer Due Diligence (CDD) on transactions.

Lawyers will also be involved in real estate transactions. Some of these transactions also involve accountants. Lawyers and accountants also have strict KYC and anti-money laundering obligations and are required to perform CDD.

Gatekeepers specific to the real estate sector, such as real estate salespersons, real estate agencies, and developers also have the duty to perform CDD on their customers and are required to file a Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) if they have reasonable grounds to suspect that any property may be connected to criminal conduct.

Together, the obligations imposed on these gatekeepers as well as the supervision of these gatekeepers by the sectoral regulators ensure that Singapore has a strong anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regime. Buyers and sellers may also be obliged to file an STR if their knowledge or suspicion that a property or transaction is connected with criminal conduct had arisen in the course of their trade, profession, business or employment.