Written answer by Ministry of National Development on penalties for estate agents who fail to perform customer due diligence or report suspicious transactions

Nov 6, 2023

Question No: 5176

Question by: Mr Leong Mun Wai

To ask the Minister for National Development (a) whether the Government will consider working with the Council for Estate Agencies to issue a set of sentencing guidelines setting out how the financial penalties for failure to perform customer due diligence measures or report suspicious transactions or activities, as provided in the Estate Agents Act and the Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism regulations, can be varied based on the size of the suspicious transactions or the potential commission earned; and (b) if not, why.

Answer:

Under the Estate Agents Act 2010 (EAA) and Estate Agents (Prevention of Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism) Regulations 2021 (PMLFT Regulations), property agencies and property agents are required to perform due diligence checks on their clients before commencing any business relationship or facilitating transaction with them. Failure to do so is a breach under the EAA and may result in disciplinary action by a CEA Disciplinary Committee (DC).

2        The DC is an independent tribunal that assesses each case holistically to determine the appropriate penalties. The DC will consider all relevant facts and circumstances of the case, including the size of the transaction, the potential commission earned, the extent of the offender’s culpability, the degree of harm caused, and whether there are other aggravating or mitigating factors. In meting out the appropriate penalties, the DC may refer to past sentencing precedents of similar cases and adjust accordingly to address case-specific circumstances.

3        Information on CEA’s sentencing approach and the sentences meted out by DCs in the past are published on CEA’s website.