One of the final acts of the Office of Fair Trading before it was disbanded on 31 March 2014 was to penalise three firms of estate agents for anti-money laundering failures.

Hastings International UK Limited is an estate agent with two premises in south London and was fined £47,966.

Jackson Grundy Limited operates its estate agency business from 10 premises and was fined £169,652.  The company’s head office is in Duston, Northampton.

Cardiff-based Jeffrey Ross Ltd had two premises in the city during the OFT investigation period and was fined £29,000.

The failures in all three cases were described as significant and widespread and included:

1. Failures to apply adequate customer due diligence measures when carrying out estate agency work.
2. Failures to conduct ongoing monitoring of business relationships.
3. Failures to establish and maintain appropriate policies and procedures on adequate record-keeping, internal controls or risk assessments.
4. Failures to train relevant employees in how to recognise and deal with transactions and other activities which may be related to money laundering and terrorist financing.

From 1 April 2014, the OFT’s anti-money laundering powers and responsibilities in relation to estate agents have been transferred to HMRC.

The penalties may be subject to appeal.