Mills Chody - solicitors LLP

 

Anti Money Laundering

Mills Chody prides itself on its integrity and never forgets that solicitors are Officers of the Supreme Court. We are scrupulous in ensuring compliance with Money Laundering regulations, in order to prevent our clients from being victims of or unwitting accessories to economic crime, and to protect the financial institutions who are also our clients.

For this reason you should not be offended if we ask you at a preliminary interview or at the point of taking instructions to supply us with evidence of your identity and proof of residence.

Just because you are asked for evidence of your identity does not mean that you are under suspicion.

You should be aware that with effect from 10th November 2008 it is now a requirement of the Land Registry in connection with any registerable transaction relating to land that the applicant supply evidence of identity through his solicitors.

Our bank and building society clients also impose obligations on us during the course of lending transactions. These vary from one institution to another but a lender will often require that we take steps to verify the source of funds which are being supplied by a borrower towards the purchase price of a property.

The reason for this is three fold:

  • firstly in order to check that these are not the proceeds of crime, and
  • secondly because a borrower who is also raising a second loan from a third party might by encumbering his income beyond his ability to service both debts and
  • thirdly if a borrower raises money from a third party, that third party might allege that they have a financial interest in the property which is the subject matter of the transaction. If the third party lender can prove that their financial interest arose prior to the creation of the mortgage in favour of the lender then this may mean that the lender’s mortgage is postponed behind the rights of the third party. This means that the lender does not obtain a first legal charge and will have difficulty in exercising their right to take possession of the property which has been offered as security for the loan in the event of a default.