BCREA Combats Money Laundering Through Participation in Cullen Commission

As a participant in the Cullen Commission, BCREA is providing information about the daily practice realities in real estate. Our participation will help strengthen consumer protection measures and limit money laundering in the real estate sector.

The Cullen Commission, established in May 2019, is conducting videoconferencing hearings from May 25 to June 30, 2020. BCREA provided an opening statement in February and will continue sharing our expertise by providing testimony in the fall session when the Cullen Commission focuses on real estate.

In our opening statement, we provided background information on our actions taken to combat money laundering, including our best practices and recommendations made in collaboration with other real estate stakeholders and participation in the Expert Panel and Peter German provincial money laundering reports.

We also reiterated our ongoing anti-money laundering recommendations, including calling for increased coordination and information sharing among federal and provincial governments, as well as their respective agencies. In addition, we are calling for better use of on-the-ground expertise of real estate professionals to develop compliance resources and policy ideas. In early 2020, the Real Estate Council of BC implemented BCREA’s recommendation to introduce mandatory anti-money laundering education for real estate professionals.

With the help from information gathered from managing brokers and compliance officers, BCREA continues to provide new and upcoming resources to support REALTORS®, including infographics, podcasts, FAQs and digital workshops.

The Cullen Commission will deliver an interim report by November 2020 and a final report by May 2021.

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