www.macrobusiness.com.au/2017/03/report-australia-worlds-worst-money-laundering-property-market/


Transparency International has released a new report, entitled Doors Wide Open: Corruption and Real Estate in Four Key Markets, which has identified Australia, Canada, the UK and the USA as the top four spots targeted by corrupt officials or criminals for real estate crime. Australia is the worst, failing to address 10-out-of-10 loopholes.

Australia has severe deficiencies under all 10 areas identified in the research and is therefore not in line with any of the commitments to tackle corruption and money laundering in real estate made in international forums.

In Australia, real estate agents are not subject to the provisions of the Anti-Money Laundering and CounterTerrorism Financing Act 2006. Other professionals such as lawyers and accountants who may also play a role in the sector are not covered either. This means that properties can be bought and sold without any due diligence on the parties. Currently there are no requirements for real estate agents or any professional involved in real estate deals to submit STRs, even if they suspect illegal activity is taking place, and there are no requirements or rules for verifying whether customers are PEPs or their close associates.

In Australia, 70 per cent of Chinese buyers pay in cash and they represent the largest proportion of foreign purchases in the country.

Recently an extradition treaty with China was cancelled because of the possible detriment to Chinese money laundering activity and Australian property.

NorthernKitesAUS said..
So you want to be part of the action there Fly?

I use Bitcoin to launder ;)

I don't think its just foreigners either.

I suspect that there are people out there that are buying houses, spending a lot of illegitimate cash on renovating them and then either selling them or revaluing them to get at the equity.

I read a story on one of the news sites where they talked about a person that was able to acquire a massive number of properties, yet on a small income. Being ever cynical, to me the numbers didn't add up, and I suspect that maybe it would be a good way to clean a lot of unclean money. Buy a house, possibly pay some in cash, renovate it with cash, and then you have an asset that has just appreciated and no one cares how it was renovated. If its worth twice as much, that's just good luck, and possibly tax free, or at a reduced tax rate.

I mean, it does seem really easy...

government loves it. they get stamp duty every sale. real estate agents get commission every sale. As prices rise so does their income.
Sad that the Canadian Family in Manly who are residents and brought their kids up here are being forced to sell their property because of some loophole. Meanwhile the chinese pay 5 mill to the gov for a visa and can do what they want. Im bloody sick of driving behind chinese 20 year olds in 100k cars. Aussie and NZ are just being incorporated into Asia. Thats whats happening.

That is a separate issue. Feel free to start a thread.

AUS1111 said..
Agree with all of the above. It is a huge free kick for criminals and action should be taken.

There is massive attention paid to anti money laundering and counter terrorism financing in the finance and investment sector, and yet nothing for real estate. It seems crazy.

It is crazy. Governments of all persuasions have done almost nothing because politics and property are closely linked.

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