What documents do I need to provide to the agent to comply with anti-money laundering laws?
Act LIII of 2017 covers all economic entities and individuals that provide financial intermediation, investment or client management services, including also real estate agents. What does it mean for you as a seller or buyer?
Whether you are buying or selling an apartment in Hungary, you will need to submit certain documents before any real estate transaction. I find it important to emphasize that even if I as a real estate agent have a contract with the seller, according to law I need to require and retain certain data from the buyer as well.
Each party needs to sign of the PEP (politically exposed person) declaration and the customer data sheet where she/he confirms that she/he acts on her/his own behalf or on behalf of another party. Together with these documents clients need to provide the agent with the copy of his/her ID card and address card.
It is the agent’s obligation to check the name of clients regularly on the updated EU, UN sanction lists, in PEP database and on Hungary’s national anti-terrorism list.
Citizens of high-risk countries must provide the declaration of source of wealth as well. The list of high-risk countries are available for agents on the webpage of the European Union Law.
In case of corporate clients, company documents need to be submitted and ownerships will be checked in the beneficial owners database where real estate agents have access together with lawyers, accountants and another financial service providers.
And these are only documents related to AML rules and I have not mention in this article the documentation sellers need to provide about the property before putting it on the sales market.
I wish we could live in a world where transactions could work without more and more paper work even if it is electronic paper. In the meantime what I can promise is that I make everything for you as easy and transparent as possible.