Uneven ground – EU estate agents

A central purpose of the European Union’s (EU) Second Money Laundering Directive (2MLD), which came into effect in June 2003, was to extend to estate agents, amongst others, the anti-money laundering (AML) controls that until then had applied to financial institutions. The aim, although well-meant and logical, in some important ways is beginning to look more than a shade unrealistic, says Alan Osborn .

Estate agents may have become subject to EU anti-money laundering legislation but in many countries the ‘profession’ is so unregulated that it has made not a scrap of difference to the way they operate. Unlike banks and building societies, for instance, estate agents in many EU countries have not been brought into a legal framework that sets procedures for the conduct of their business as a result of EU legislation.