All letting agents in the UK who meet the definition of letting agency activity and the rent thresholds must register with HMRC and follow the anti-money laundering regulations.
With reports that the level of checks and inspections are increasing, HomeLet and Let Alliance have teamed up with FCS Compliance to offer a free webinar for letting agents.
HomeLet and Let Alliance will be running the free webinar for letting agents on the 26th of January at 10 am, hosted by FCS Compliance. The webinar, which is called “When an Inspector Calls”, will focus on HMRC visits to letting agents and how businesses can ensure that they’re prepared for these checks.
Malcolm Driscoll, lead anti-money laundering compliance consultant, will lead the webinar. He will explain how agents can prepare for HMRC visits, what to expect from an inspection, and the necessary measures agents should take to avoid severe penalties, ending with a Q&A session where viewers can directly ask Malcolm any questions.
With HMRC’s recent ramp-up in their activity, all agents must be prepared for an inspection. On the importance of the upcoming webinar’s content, Malcolm gave the following comments:
“The publication of the Pandora Papers, recent penalties imposed by AML supervisors of the regulated sectors and the increase of checks being undertaken on the competency and compliance of businesses has been a stark wake-up call to anyone working in the property industry.
“HMRC continues to make their inspections – often at short notice – of businesses they supervise; businesses that are at risk from criminal activity and money laundering.”
Mike Dawson, HomeLet & Let Alliance sales director, said: “We’ve had lots of letting agents raise concerns about AML regulations. Being a letting agent is complicated enough. It’s vital that we’re driving value for our letting agent partners through our products and service and also market insights, so we’ve teamed up with FCS Compliance to help agents with the regulations.”
Agents interested in the seminar can register here.
