Research into the support for the AMLD among brokers / appraisers and notaries

Last February, the "Aanjaagteam Ondermijning" led by A.B. Hoogenboom presented the research report "Samen". The report has three subjects; the support, nature and extent of involvement in money laundering and the cooperation between the government, the notarial profession, brokerage and appraisers.

There has been an increase in support and the number of reports of suspicious transactions, only there is talk of a “rebellious involvement”. There are several developments that promote compliance, but there is also a certain rebellion. In principle, according to the research report, there are three reasons for complying with the AMLD: economic, social and normative reasons. Whereas the economic motive mainly revolves around a cost and benefit assessment, the social and normative motives are dominated by the sociological aspect. What is the corporate culture (normative)? And how much appreciation and prestige do people receive from customers, competitors and the environment (social)?

Rebellious involvement 

It appears that the sectors studied have their reservations about the AMLD. With the gatekeeper function, they fall between two stools. The rebellion is evident from various studies conducted by industry associations such as the Royal Notarial Association (KNB) and the Dutch Association of Estate Agents (NVM). Mainly the costs, the (increasing) administrative burden, such as the increasingly burdensome investigative duties, cause "rebellion". There is also disinterest, they experience a lack of feedback and there is doubt about the effect of the AMLD. Some real estate agents, notaries or appraisers also believe that the gatekeeper position has made them too much of an extension of the regulatory and enforcement agencies. 

It is also striking that in the investigations among the NVM real estate sector, the fear of reprisals was reported. If brokers (or others) comply with the reporting obligation, the name of the reporter is mentioned in the criminal file. By including the name of the reporter, they are afraid to report for fear of retaliation from the criminal circuit, which is why brokers / appraisers have been advocating for some time to anonymize the names of the reporters. 

Due to the "rebellious involvement", the AMLD is not always complied with, the report concludes. In 2017, 23 criminal investigations were conducted against estate agents and notaries. In addition, there were 361 court rulings on money laundering between April 2015 and August 2020, of which 33 related to notaries, 13 to estate agents and 2 to appraisers. 

Despite the criticism and periodic violations, support for the AMLD is increasing. The reports of unusual transactions are also increasing, with the reports about real estate playing the largest role; no fewer than 2000 of the 4,500 reports related to real estate. It is therefore problematic - from the perspective of the purpose of the AMLD - that there are many parties active in real estate that are not linked to a trade association. 

CDD On Demand was created to make it easier for parties subject to AMLD and gatekeepers to comply with risk assessment and customer due diligence. You can easily search for your client (legal entity or natural person) in the database and your client is automatically checked on various points such as PEP lists, Interpol lists and risk countries. At the end of the study, you can download a free PDF report for your records containing the findings of the study. CDD On Demand can also support you in finding the UBO and checking several people at the same time.