Property Agents who Failed to Take Due Diligence Measures for Anti-money Laundering-related Lapses in Breach of Estates Agents Act

35 Mr Gan Thiam Poh asked the Minister for National Development (a) in the past two years, how many property agents and developers have (i) failed to take due diligence measures for anti-money laundering related lapses and (ii) committed breaches under the Estate Agents Act; and (b) whether any purchase transactions had to be voided or aborted as a result.

Mr Desmond Lee: Property agents are required to fulfil specific duties under the Estate Agents Act (EAA) to prevent money laundering and terrorism financing. These include performing due diligence checks on customers and reporting suspicious transactions to the Suspicious Transaction Reporting Office (STRO) of the Singapore Police Force.

The Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) conducts regular inspections of property agencies and their agents on their compliance with the regulatory requirements. Those who fail to comply would have committed a breach under EAA and could be subjected to disciplinary action.

Between September 2020 and September 2022, CEA has warned 27 property agents for not properly conducting the required due diligence checks on their customers. As a result, there have been no purchase transactions which had to be voided or aborted.

The Government has also passed the Developers (Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing) Act and will impose new requirements on developers, such as carrying out customer due diligence checks on purchasers to detect money laundering and terrorism financing.