Propertymark says banks are still misinterpreting Anti-Money Laundering rules regarding pooled client accounts, making life difficult for letting agents. 

The trade body says it’s routinely battling with banks, industry groups and government officials on behalf of members who have unnecessarily had accounts closed or restricted as they fall outside of the scope of AML regulations because they do not manage high-value properties with monthly rental incomes of 10,000 euros or more.

Propertymark letting agent members have reported that banks are asking them to carry out Customer Due Diligence to the level as set out in the Money Laundering Regulations when not all letting agents are legally required to do so.

The agents’ body says one solution to this is for the UK government to remove the EUR 10,000 monthly rent threshold and set this at zero to create consistency and cover all tenancies let in the private rented sector. 

Therefore, all letting agents would be required to register with HMRC for Anti-Money Laundering Supervision which would provide banks with the reassurance they need and reduce a barrier that can make it hard for agents to operate.

Banks are also being reminded that rather than making arbitrary decisions they should be referring to updated industry guidance from the Joint Money Laundering Steering Group – the forum that should be the final decision-maker. 

Propertymark lobbied for the JMLSG guidance to be improved and now says it’s frustrated at the inconsistency for its members because not all banks are following it. The guidance is not legally binding but has HM Treasury approval.

Propertymark compliance manager David Oliver says: “This is a frustrating, time consuming and unnecessary issue for our members especially when the banking industry’s own guidance from the JMLSG is clear that the legal requirement for CMP and our own regulatory rules as a professional body should be enough to satisfy any risk.

“For letting agents, it is simply not feasible to have separate accounts for each of their clients or even necessary if they are Propertymark members because of the protections in place through our compliance process that requires them to provide details of their CMP on an annual basis.

“We are continuing to engage directly with banks, the financial sector and governments and would also encourage any members that have pooled client accounts closed to use the JMLSG guidance and their Propertymark membership to confidently challenge those decisions.”

One solution is for letting agents to use a Client Accounting Service Provider  which is a third-party organisation that manages client money on behalf of the agent.