Law on financial monitoring to promote bringing realtors' activities out of shadows, say experts

Kyiv, July 21 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The taking effect of the law on preventing and combating money laundering and terrorist financing, in which the profession of realtor has been included in a list of entities subject to primary financial monitoring, will help bring the real estate market out of shadows, real estate market experts said at a press conference at Interfax-Ukraine in Kyiv on Tuesday.

"We believe that the law is very important for Ukraine, for its cooperation on the international arena, and it is very important for bringing the real estate market out of shadows," said President of the Association of Realtors of Ukraine Andriy Shulha.

Vice-President of the Association of Realtors of Ukraine Serhiy Zlyden agreed with Shulha.

"Indirectly if you're involved in real estate transactions and do not observe the law on financial monitoring, that is you do not get registered [at the state committee for financial monitoring] so you do not observe the law… then one can say that you're working illegally today. So realtors… will get registered and come out of the shadows. This is the first step to the legalization of the market – bringing realtor services out of the shadows," Zlyden said.

He added that the law would not impact prices on the real estate market.

"The market will remain unchanged. Other factors influence the price specifics of the market," he said.

The deputy head of the state committee for financial monitoring, Oleksiy Feschenko, said that the law does not foresee automatic reports.

"This means that information [on deals with property worth over UAH 400,000] will not be automatically sent to the state committee for financial monitoring," he said.

Feschenko added that only if there is a suspicion of a link to money laundering or terrorist financing will such information by sent to the committee.

In turn, the deputy head of the department for cooperation and methodical provision of the state financial monitoring system, Yaroslav Korzhenivsky, said that today the state committee is drawing up criteria that primary financial monitoring entities can use to assess their clients.

Shulha said that on June 17 the Association of Realtors of Ukraine and the state committee for financial monitoring signed a memorandum on cooperation in preventing money laundering.