This week, the Real Estate Council of BC (RECBC) and FINTRAC (Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada) announced they have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) aimed at combatting money laundering inside BC’s real estate sector.
The MOU is the first of its kind between real estate regulators in Canada. It establishes a framework for FINTRAC and the Council to share information in order to strengthen the compliance of the real estate sector with the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act.
With this agreement, Council says it wants to strengthen the compliance of real estate brokerages to increase the reporting of suspicious transactions.
According to FINTRAC’s website, the real estate sector was subject to 172 FINTRAC examinations in 2017–18, representing the sector with the highest number of these examinations over the past three years.
Also this week, BC Attorney General David Eby cited a finding in a recently filed review of money laundering in BC’s housing market, that suggests there are currently no RCMP officers dedicated to investigating money laundering in the entire province.
Read more about the issue through these links:
- New Partnership to Combat Money Laundering in BC
- FINTRAC Partners with the Real Estate Council of British Columbia
- BC Attorney General shocked to find the RCMP doing “nothing” to investigate money laundering in the province