Ethics, Fair Dealing, and Anti-Money Laundering Compliance
Standards of conduct
Ethical practice requires honesty, fairness, confidentiality, competence and disclosure of conflicts. Candidates must know the anti-money-laundering framework: customer due diligence, identification and verification of clients and beneficial owners, enhanced due diligence for politically exposed persons and higher-risk situations, ongoing monitoring, suspicious activity reporting to the relevant authority, and record-keeping. Bermuda's regime derives from the Proceeds of Crime Act, the Anti-Terrorism Act and the regulations made under them, supervised for real estate by the Bermuda Monetary Authority and the licensing body.
Traps to watch
Questions test whether an agent may proceed when a client refuses to provide identification - the answer is no. Watch for the trap of tipping off a client that a suspicious activity report has been made, which is itself an offence. Also check the treatment of cash payments, third-party payments, and transactions involving offshore structures where the beneficial owner is hidden. Fair dealing traps include misrepresenting a property's condition, pressuring a client, and failing to disclose a personal interest in the property.
Rule of thumb
If you cannot identify the client and the beneficial owner, you cannot act. If a transaction looks unusual, document your reasoning and consider a report.
Worked example
A buyer insists on paying the deposit in cash from an unrelated company and declines to explain. The agent should not proceed, should escalate internally, and should consider filing a suspicious activity report without informing the client.