UK’s Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has published a statement on countering bribery, corruption, money-laundering and terrorist financing. RICS provides the qualifications and standards that those in the profession of land, property, construction and infrastructure should adhere to. The purpose of the organization’s recent professional statement is to help RICS-affiliated firms to identify these financial crimes.
The professional statement describes all the mandatory requirements for anti-bribery and corruption and for anti-money laundering and terrorist financing. RICS imposed these requirements on September 1, 2019. The statement also provides good practice guidelines for tackling all financial crimes.
The importance of this statement lies in the fact that property, construction and related businesses are highly vulnerable to organised crime. It is crucial that all firms working in these areas have adequately trained personnel to detect and report suspicious activities. A collaborative effort with the government and law enforcement authorities is also required to ward off financial criminals. RICS has also been collaborating with the United Nations Global Compact to identify the challenges that land, property and construction related companies are facing.
