• Gifted Deposits

    By Guest on 11th Jun 2015

    I am gifting my son money to pay his deposit for a new house. His solicitor is demanding to see my last 3 months bank statements, which I find an intrusion to my privacy.

    Is this correct?

  • 1 Answers

    By Guest on 11/06/2015

    Yes. Solicitors have a duty under anti-money laundering legislation to make enquiries as to the origination of any funds passing through their client account and to obtain and retain copies of supporting evidence. Those wishing to conceal the proceeds of crime will try to "clean" the money by passing it through as money legitimate accounts as possible and/or investing in a legitimate asset such as a house, often ensuring that the house is registered in the name of a third party to further blur the trail. This does not mean that the solicitors suspect you of any wrongdoing. The penalties for failing to take appropriate precautions are serious and will usually involve a custodial sentence for both the individual handling the transaction and the responsible officer at the firm even if the funds they have failed to investigate are legitimate and no offence of money laundering has actually been committed. All law firms are obliged to submit to regular independent audits in order to check, amongst other things, for evidence of compliance. In addition where the purchaser is buying with a mortgage it is a standard requirement of the lender that these enquiries are made before the mortgage funds are used.

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