The Nottingham's estate agency team has moved quickly to train staff on the new Anti-Money Laundering and Terrorist Financial Directive.

Over the last few months Nottingham Estate Agency and Harrison Murray Estate Agency (both part of The Nottingham) have been working hard to ensure they were ready for when it came into force.

The directive puts increased emphasis on organisations such as estate agencies to do all they can to spot signs of money laundering. That includes exercising the highest levels of client due diligence to ensure the utmost care is taken to avoid the potential for property sales to play a role in the funding of terrorist activity.

All purchasers will be required to supply extra information regarding their purchase funds and personal data.

Nottingham Estate Agency and Harrison Murray teams have been fully trained on the new regulatory requirements so they can best make enquiries and/or answer any questions raised as well as talking to clients about the risks before they are potentially embroiled in anything, intentionally or unintentionally.

Area manager Richard Bocock (pictured) said: "Under the 2007 regulations we have always had a responsibility to check for potential money laundering and for reporting anything suspicious if and when we should see it. The new regulations have increased the steps we need to take.

"Where we have definitely stepped things up is on the education front. It's one thing for us to know the rules and regulations but that's not to say that those people buying from us, or selling with us, do. It's vital that we are able to help.

"It's very important to us to put the client at the forefront of the sales process so we have made sure all our estate agency teams are completely up to speed with the new regulations and are able to advise as best they can."

-ENDS

Notes to editor

As a key part of our offering to customers, the Nottingham Building Society offers estate agency services via 35 Nottingham Estate Agency and Harrison Murray branch locations in Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire and Derbyshire. Of these, 27 locations are integrated building society and estate agency services.

Established in 1849, the award-winning Nottingham Building Society is the ninth largest Building Society in the UK with 60 locations across ten counties and assets of over £3.6bn.

The Nottingham offers a broad range of building society services such as mortgages and savings as well as independent financial planning, whole of market mortgage advice and local estate agency services.

It is a mutual building society, owned by its members, with a long and proud history of offering financial support to local communities. It has worked with homelessness charity Framework since 2010, SportsAid, supporting young aspiring athletes, since 2013 and education charity Young Enterprise since 2015 under its 'Doing Good Together' community programme. Since its inception in 2010, 'Doing Good Together' has raised over £112,000 for local charities, volunteered over 2,300 staff hours and given away £530,000 to worthy causes.