6‑33 Initial customer due diligence—real6‑33 Initial customer due diligence—real estate transactions

6‑33 Initial customer due diligence—real estate transactions

Reliance on arrangement for collecting and verifying KYC information (1) For the purposes of paragraph 28(6)(b) of the Act, a reporting entity is taken to have established on reasonable grounds a matter mentioned in paragraph 28(2)(b), (d), (e) or (g) of the Act in relation to a customer if: (a) the only kind of designated service the reporting entity is proposing to provide to the customer is a designated service covered by: (i) item 1 of table 5 in section 6 of the Act (brokering the sale, purchase or transfer of real estate); or (ii) item 1 of table 6 in section 6 of the Act (assisting a person in a transaction to sell, buy or otherwise transfer real estate); and (b) the designated service is proposed to be provided by the reporting entity to the customer at or through a permanent establishment of the reporting entity in Australia; and (c) where the customer is an individual—the reporting entity has taken reasonable steps to establish that the customer is the person the customer claims to be; and (d) the reporting entity has identified the ML/TF risk of the customer, based on KYC information about the customer that is reasonably available to the reporting entity before commencing to provide the designated service; and (e) the reporting entity has collected KYC information about the customer relating to the matter that is appropriate to the ML/TF risk of the customer; and (f) the reporting entity is a participant in an arrangement in which another participating reporting entity that will provide a designated service related to the sale, purchase or transfer of the real estate will be able to collect and verify KYC information about the customer in accordance with paragraphs 28(3)(c) and (d) of the Act no later than 28 days after the exchange of contracts for the sale, purchase or transfer; and (g) the arrangement enables the reporting entity to obtain the KYC information collected by another participating reporting entity, and copies of the data used by the other entity to verify the KYC information, at least 3 days before the initially agreed day for the settlement of the sale, purchase or transfer; and (h) the arrangement documents the responsibilities of each participant, including responsibilities for record‑keeping.

Note: Section 5‑20 of this instrument requires the AML/CTF policies of the reporting entity to deal with how the reporting entity will verify KYC information, if it does not obtain KYC information and data under the arrangement.

Customer of brokering service does not cooperate (2) For the purposes of paragraph 28(6)(b) of the Act, a reporting entity is taken to have established on reasonable grounds a matter mentioned in subsection 28(2) of the Act in relation to a customer if: (a) the designated service is covered by item 1 of table 5 in section 6 of the Act (brokering the sale, purchase or transfer of real estate); and (b) the customer is the buyer or transferee of the real estate; and (c) the reporting entity has commenced to provide a designated service covered by item 1 of table 5 in section 6 of the Act to the seller or transferor of the real estate; and (d) the reporting entity has taken all reasonable steps to establish the matter in in relation to the customer, but has been unable to do so because the customer has not cooperated; and (e) the reporting entity has recorded the steps taken and any difficulties encountered in attempting to establish the matter; and (f) the reporting entity has made a record of its consideration of whether there is a suspicious matter reporting obligation for the reporting entity in relation to the customer.