Property developers brace for surge in compliance work with new anti-money laundering rules

PROPERTY developers are gearing up, ahead of an impending surge in compliance work they face, to comply with new rules the Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) has put in place to tackle money laundering and terrorism financing in real estate. 

While the URA has provided guidelines for developers on the new requirements, many are grappling with how they will conduct checks that will be watertight, amid some lack of clarity on criteria and boundaries.

From Jun 28, developers are required to conduct customer due diligence checks on all transactions of uncompleted residential and non-residential properties regulated under the Housing Developers (Control & Licensing) Act and Sale of Commercial Properties Act.