The Top 10  Most Difficult Countries for Identity Verification

The Top 10  Most Difficult Countries for Identity Verification

Download Report

    n-img-roi-cross

    Before You Go, Schedule Your Free Demo Today

    Valid Invalid number


    Note: Fields marked with an asterisk(*) are mandatory.

    n-exit-img-roi-cross

    Thank you for your demo request

    We appreciate your interest and look forward to discussing how our solution can meet your needs. Expect to hear from us shortly with scheduling details.

    Close

    us

    18.97.14.84

    Impact of Beneficial Ownership Transparency on Real Estate Crimes

    SP Onsite Blog Image Mar 09, 2022-02

    The high price tags of real estate in the US open doors for corrupt politicians, kleptocrats, and financial criminals to spend their black money in big amounts to obscure its origins. Based on a World Bank study, the US real estate sector faced more corruption and money laundering cases than any other country with losses of up to $56 billion. 

    One of the reasons for this is the attraction to invest in luxurious US real estate and benefitting from the strong economy of the world’s superpower. Despite US authorities and banks enforcing Anti-money laundering (AML) regulations, there are inadequate checks for beneficial ownership.

    What Makes Real Estate Vulnerable to Fraud

    Until last year, establishing shell companies did not require the submission of beneficial ownership information. This meant that fraudulent entities could easily utilize anonymity to create illicit financial flows that bypassed legitimate financial processes. According to a Global Financial Integrity report from 2019, some states in America required less information for verification than is required while registering for a library card. Based on a survey by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global financial watchdog that sets the standards for AML policies, real estate accounts for approximately 30% of the criminal assets confiscated in more than 20 countries.

    Journalists have identified a large number of potentially corrupt entities investing in US real estate, including owners of oil companies and criminal organizations like drug cartels, the Italian mafia, and groups involved in money laundering using Ponzi schemes and shell companies. The US real estate market is a magnet for illicit finance because of certain factors that are particular to the sector. These include high values and the ‘one and done’ method where the entire amount is paid at once, either for storing and steadily appreciating an asset or to resell it. Criminals that invest their proceeds of crime in real estate ultimately find a way to obtain clean money in return. Since non-financial organizations are involved, there is comparatively less transparency when it comes to verifying beneficial ownership information. The brokers and lawyers involved in real estate deals are not obliged to follow AML regulations and therefore do not require beneficial ownership information from the buyers or sellers.  

    That being said, even though real estate businesses are not obliged by law to implement customer due diligence checks on their customers, the financial institutions through which the transactions are made do have to follow AML regulations. As a result, illicit transactions for the purchase of real estate can be tracked if they involve banks or other financial institutions. As per the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), financial institutions are required to monitor the transactions of their customers and report suspicious activities to the FinCEN as part of Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs). This allows increased scrutiny of real estate dealers and buyers. 

    The Importance of Beneficial Ownership Transparency

    Most criminal activities like money laundering, tax evasion, corruption, terrorist financing involve anonymity that is provided by certain sectors like real estate to steer clear of law enforcement authorities. For instance, the majority of corruption cases that are overseen by the World Bank’s subsidiaries and the United Nations Office on Drugs (UNODC) involve shell companies. Corrupt assets are channeled through the real estate sector and billions of dollars are transferred through complicated money trails and a chain of shell companies. One thing that all of these illicit methods of moving money have in common is the reason why they are created – to hide the identities of the real beneficial owners.

    Onsite Blog Infographic march 09, 2022-02

    Various world governments constantly make efforts to identify shell companies that are used to carry out illicit crimes like money laundering. As it turns out, ensuring transparency in business transactions is not enough. Businesses must also oblige all entities to publicly disclose beneficial ownership information. Buyers of real estate must be required to provide proof of identity along with disclosure of all entities that are ultimately benefitted by the property, even those that are not legal owners. Beneficial ownership transparency is the key to preventing companies from assisting criminals or the formation of new shell companies. 

    New Policies for UBO Transparency

    During the past decade, failure to identify ultimate beneficial owners (UBOs) of real estate has led to the degradation of financial transparency. In light of the huge losses due to financial crimes in real estate, beneficial ownership transparency has become more important. In April 2021, the US FinCEN called for public comments on the implementation of the beneficial ownership information reporting provisions of the U.S. Corporate Transparency Act (CTA). 

    The Corporate Transparency Act obliges certain newly established and existing entities to identify and share detailed information about their beneficial owners to FinCEN. However, the United States is not alone in the efforts to improve beneficial ownership transparency. In 2016, the “Panama Papers” highlighted widespread wealth concealment and tax avoidance, urging the European Commission to issue new regulations related to beneficial ownership transparency with the 5th EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD5)

    Apart from other measures, the European Commission advised on establishing public registers where the beneficial ownership information of companies. Businesses themselves are thereby required to submit accurate and updated information about their beneficial owners. As a result, developing economies are adopting new methods to ensure beneficial ownership transparency. 

    Tunisia was one of the first nations to implement such a system with a new legal framework on beneficial ownership transparency in November 2018. The system was based on a beneficial ownership registry. Similarly, in 2019 India added a definition for a “significant beneficial owner” as any entity that has at least 10% ownership of a company in its amendment of the Companies Rules to ensure transparency. 

    In October 2020, Kenya and Ghana introduced central beneficial ownership registries as part of efforts to comply with international transparency standards. Businesses in Kenya are obliged to keep a record of beneficial ownership information and submit it to the state Registrar of Companies.

    What Shufti Offers

    Real estate businesses have regulatory obligations set forth by global financial watchdogs. When it comes to the digital space, the challenges add up with cyber actors coming up with sophisticated moves and heinous motives. Shufti is a UK-based IDV provider that offers a robust AI-powered AML screening solution for real estate businesses enabling them to remain compliant with industry-specific regulations. Businesses can effortlessly identify suspicious and high-risk customers by cross-checking them against 1700+ watchlists to stay compliant with global due diligence standards. 

    Find out how your real estate business can comply with global regulations with our customer-centric KYC/AML solution.

    Related Posts

    Blog

    Cannabis Industry – Risks, Predictions, Fraud & KYC/AML Obligations

    The ever-growing industries across the world are opening gates for numerous opportunities to gree...

    Cannabis Industry – Risks, Predictions, Fraud & KYC/AML Obligations Explore More

    Blog

    The Looming Threat of Deepfake Apps for the Financial Industry

    Deepfakes gained prominence back in 2017 when an anonymous Reddit user manipulated Google’s open-...

    The Looming Threat of Deepfake Apps for the Financial Industry Explore More

    Blog

    Top 10 Questions about AML Compliance Answered by the CTO of Shufti

    The regulatory landscape is changing with time and a number of questions are arising. AML complia...

    Top 10 Questions about AML Compliance Answered by the CTO of Shufti Explore More

    Blog

    Age verification regulations demanding better compliance from businesses

    “Youth is the hope of our future.” Jose Rizal  It is no secret that the youth is a valuable asse...

    Age verification regulations demanding better compliance from businesses Explore More

    Blog, Business Technology, Identity & KYC

    6 Digital Solutions for Banks to Help with KYC

    Digital KYC: For banks, streamlining the customer onboarding is essential. The manual way of ente...

    6 Digital Solutions for Banks to Help with KYC Explore More

    Blog

    Financial Institutions and Prevailing Crimes – How Shufti’s AML Screening Solution can Help

    The year 2021 has been a year of two halves, the first businesses and individuals were dealing wi...

    Financial Institutions and Prevailing Crimes – How Shufti’s AML Screening Solution can Help Explore More

    Blog

    Brazil’s Updated Regulatory AML Guidelines for 2023

    Money laundering, corruption, and drug trafficking are prevalent issues in Brazil, the world’s se...

    Brazil’s Updated Regulatory AML Guidelines for 2023 Explore More

    Blog

    Enhanced Due Diligence Checks | The Art of Mitigating Risks Associated with Third-Parties

    For multinational businesses, reliance on external third-party vendors is crucial. However, failu...

    Enhanced Due Diligence Checks | The Art of Mitigating Risks Associated with Third-Parties Explore More

    Blog

    Anti-Money Laundering Solutions | Helping Businesses Fight Against Financial Crimes

    In today’s digital world, increased financial crimes adversely impact global industries, mainly t...

    Anti-Money Laundering Solutions | Helping Businesses Fight Against Financial Crimes Explore More

    Blog

    e-IDV: The Key to Fraud Prevention in FinTech

    After years of enormous growth, investment in the fintech market declined in 2022. Susceptibility...

    e-IDV: The Key to Fraud Prevention in FinTech Explore More

    Blog

    Vendor due diligence – Why it’s important and how it’s done?

    In today’s ever-changing corporate landscape, businesses are always looking for ways to make thei...

    Vendor due diligence – Why it’s important and how it’s done? Explore More

    Blog, Fraud Prevention

    Identity Theft Frauds – How can you stay a step ahead?

    Identity theft is ‘a hot potato’ these days. Every day we come across news of online fraud that h...

    Identity Theft Frauds – How can you stay a step ahead? Explore More

    Artificial Intelligence, Blog

    What are the 3 Stages of Money Laundering and How Can AML Checks Combat Fraud?

    Criminals and organized crime groups have become creative and sophisticated in concealing sources...

    What are the 3 Stages of Money Laundering and How Can AML Checks Combat Fraud? Explore More

    Blog, Financial Crime / AML, Identity & KYC, Reg Tech

    Significance of AML Compliance in Money Services Business

    The financial sector landscape is evolving with the advent of the FinTech industry. Many revoluti...

    Significance of AML Compliance in Money Services Business Explore More

    Blog

    Securing Transactions and Operations with Biometric Consent Verification in Digital Banking

    In the modern digital world, secure business operations are crucial.  The focus on maintaining se...

    Securing Transactions and Operations with Biometric Consent Verification in Digital Banking Explore More

    Blog, Fraud Prevention

    Credit Card Frauds- How Can You Prevent It?

    Ever since credit cards were introduced, credit card fraud has been elevating. One needs to stay ...

    Credit Card Frauds- How Can You Prevent It? Explore More

    Anti Money Laundering, Blog, Financial Crime / AML

    Why PEPs are High Risk and a Threat To Your Business?

    In the Financial and Trade industry, you may have often heard the term PEPs and the importance of...

    Why PEPs are High Risk and a Threat To Your Business? Explore More

    Blog

    Shufti to Revamp Customer Experience with Enhanced Video KYC UX

    Would you ever want to use a product that is hard to understand? A McKinsey Report revealed that ...

    Shufti to Revamp Customer Experience with Enhanced Video KYC UX Explore More

    Blog

    Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Solutions – Ensuring Responsible Gambling and Data Protection

    Like other industries, the gambling industry is also becoming a prime target of criminals. Howeve...

    Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Solutions – Ensuring Responsible Gambling and Data Protection Explore More

    Blog

    Identity Verification entails a lot more than customer verification

    Identity theft and digital fraud are on the rise. Cybersecurity is of essence for all the organis...

    Identity Verification entails a lot more than customer verification Explore More

    Blog

    Top 6 trends in Anti-Money Laundering for 2020

    To enhance the scope of AML compliance, new regulations were brought into force throughout last y...

    Top 6 trends in Anti-Money Laundering for 2020 Explore More

    Blog

    Analyzing the UK and US Gambling Industry by Numbers

    Businesses and people in the gambling sector are aware of the risks involved and what are their p...

    Analyzing the UK and US Gambling Industry by Numbers Explore More

    Blog

    Initial Exchange Offerings (IEOs) – A Detailed Insight

    The advent of the Crypto industry brought decentralized and innovative fundraising ways. One of t...

    Initial Exchange Offerings (IEOs) – A Detailed Insight Explore More

    Blog

    Preventing Criminal Abuse of the Australian Crypto Market with Shufti’s AML Screening Services

    Cryptocurrencies have been around for a decade and investors have found a feasible option for inv...

    Preventing Criminal Abuse of the Australian Crypto Market with Shufti’s AML Screening Services Explore More

    Blog, Identity & KYC

    KYC Compliance – Strengthening Fraud Prevention Across the Globe

    Know Your Customer (KYC)  The widespread availability of the internet has made our world more con...

    KYC Compliance – Strengthening Fraud Prevention Across the Globe Explore More

    Blog, Fraud Prevention

    4 Fraud Prevention Tips For Your E-commerce Business this Holiday Season

    With the holiday shopping season in full swing, e-commerce fraud risk is a glaring reality that n...

    4 Fraud Prevention Tips For Your E-commerce Business this Holiday Season Explore More

    Blog

    Online Dating Activities, Surging Crimes and Shufti’s IDV Solution

    Matchmaking is considered one of the oldest industries in existence, online dating is now having ...

    Online Dating Activities, Surging Crimes and Shufti’s IDV Solution Explore More

    Blog

    Third-party Due Diligence – Red Flags, Regulations and 5 Ways to Enhance It

    The majority of businesses depend upon a third-party in one way or the other. Contractors, suppli...

    Third-party Due Diligence – Red Flags, Regulations and 5 Ways to Enhance It Explore More

    Blog

    Securing FinTech Startups using Shufti’s AML/KYC Solution

    Financial technology commonly known as FinTech is rapidly growing across the globe with a lot of ...

    Securing FinTech Startups using Shufti’s AML/KYC Solution Explore More

    Blog

    Combating Money Laundering Threats in the Art and Antiquities Sector Through AML Screening Solutions

    With transforming technologies and growing digitization, the global art industry has also embrace...

    Combating Money Laundering Threats in the Art and Antiquities Sector Through AML Screening Solutions Explore More

    Blog

    Deutsche Bank’s Epstein Fine – Lesson for Financial Institution

    High-risk clients pose a serious threat to banks. Over the past few years, a significant number o...

    Deutsche Bank’s Epstein Fine – Lesson for Financial Institution Explore More

    Blog

    The Crucial Role of Ongoing Monitoring in Risk Mitigation

    The nature of a business-to-clientele relationship subjects organisations to significant risks. F...

    The Crucial Role of Ongoing Monitoring in Risk Mitigation Explore More

    Blog

    5 Key Cybersecurity Threats for 2020

    Cybersecurity threats have become remarkably common and they continue to gain traction with the p...

    5 Key Cybersecurity Threats for 2020 Explore More

    Blog, Online Marketplace

    The Importance of Know Your Customer for Crowd Funding and ID Verification Service

    In today’s world where most business and financial transactions are taking place online, the impo...

    The Importance of Know Your Customer for Crowd Funding and ID Verification Service Explore More

    Blog

    5 AI-Powered Products to Boost Digital Experiences Post Covid

    If there’s one thing financial institutions understood within the first year of global shutdowns ...

    5 AI-Powered Products to Boost Digital Experiences Post Covid Explore More

    Blog, Online Marketplace

    How AI is Transforming Fraud Prevention in the Healthcare Industry

    KYC For HealthCare: Fraud is so common that there is hardly any industry that hasn’t had to bear ...

    How AI is Transforming Fraud Prevention in the Healthcare Industry Explore More

    Blog

    How to protect your online gaming platform from ID frauds?

    Gone are the days when online gaming was only restricted to LAN parties. With the development of ...

    How to protect your online gaming platform from ID frauds? Explore More

    Blog

    The Most Common Use Cases of Identity Document Verification

    As data breaches and other crimes increase, regulators must impose strict rules that corporations...

    The Most Common Use Cases of Identity Document Verification Explore More

    Blog

    The Digital Black Market for Identity Data

    The collection, purchase, or trade of customer data is big business. Unless organizations and ind...

    The Digital Black Market for Identity Data Explore More

    Blog

    Initial Exchange Offerings (IEOs) – A Detailed Insight

    The advent of the Crypto industry brought decentralized and innovative fundraising ways. One of t...

    Initial Exchange Offerings (IEOs) – A Detailed Insight Explore More

    Blog

    Secure Ride-Hailing Services – Building Trust Through NFC Verification

    Despite the fact that modern ridesharing has only been operating for approximately a decade, it h...

    Secure Ride-Hailing Services – Building Trust Through NFC Verification Explore More

    Blog

    A Brief Overview of the RegTech Industry [2022 Update]

    The rising financial crimes have raised concerns of global regulatory watchdogs giving rise to Re...

    A Brief Overview of the RegTech Industry [2022 Update] Explore More

    Blog

    10 Frequently Asked Questions about Real-time Document Verification

    As we’re propelled deeper into digital transformation, techniques employed by scammers are ...

    10 Frequently Asked Questions about Real-time Document Verification Explore More

    Blog

    NFTs, Art Market – What Investors Need to Know About ID Verification

    In recent years, Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) have gained global attraction from individuals as wel...

    NFTs, Art Market – What Investors Need to Know About ID Verification Explore More

    Blog

    The Role of Biometrics in Combating Money Laundering and Identity Fraud

    The fast-paced growth of biometric technology and its widespread adoption in the financial and he...

    The Role of Biometrics in Combating Money Laundering and Identity Fraud Explore More

    Blog

    Fintech 2021: KYC/AML Bringing New Innovation to the Table

    2020 was all about surviving the pandemic, but it has also kickstarted a new wave of innovation. ...

    Fintech 2021: KYC/AML Bringing New Innovation to the Table Explore More

    Blog

    How can you prepare for AML Compliance – Ultimate AML Guidelines For Starters

    Anti Money Laundering Compliance, commonly known as AML Compliance, is something that banks and f...

    How can you prepare for AML Compliance – Ultimate AML Guidelines For Starters Explore More

    Blog, Business Technology

    Fraud Prevention in Fintech Industry

    The FinTech industry has really made its mark in the last couple of years. FinTechs have been pro...

    Fraud Prevention in Fintech Industry Explore More

    Blog

    5 Key Cybersecurity Threats for 2020

    Cybersecurity threats have become remarkably common and they continue to gain traction with the p...

    5 Key Cybersecurity Threats for 2020 Explore More

    Blog

    Shell Companies and Money Laundering: How to Combat Them?

    Shell companies are notorious for all the right reasons. These entities often called ghost compan...

    Shell Companies and Money Laundering: How to Combat Them? Explore More

    Blog

    Surging Crimes in NFT Marketplaces – Setting New Security Standards Using Shufti’s AML Solution

    The emergence of Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) has created new investment opportunities for business...

    Surging Crimes in NFT Marketplaces – Setting New Security Standards Using Shufti’s AML Solution Explore More

    Blog

    Key Takeaways from Shufti’s Global Identity Fraud Report 2020

     After the rollercoaster year 2020, Shufti hopes this year will be less distressing for every...

    Key Takeaways from Shufti’s Global Identity Fraud Report 2020 Explore More

    Blog, Financial Crime / AML

    Shufti integrates AML Compliance into its end-to-end Verification Services

    Shufti has now launched AML compliance in its set of identity verification services to provid...

    Shufti integrates AML Compliance into its end-to-end Verification Services Explore More

    Blog

    The Reality Behind Money Laundering through Environmental Crimes

    Environmental crimes are among the most prevailing and profiting offenses present in the world. C...

    The Reality Behind Money Laundering through Environmental Crimes Explore More

    Blog

    Identity Verification making online dating platforms secure

    The expansion of the internet and mobile devices has led to the rapid adoption of online dating. ...

    Identity Verification making online dating platforms secure Explore More

    Blog, Online Marketplace

    e-KYC Services for Libraries

    Have you ever had those series of events that leave you shaking your head? That makes you believe...

    e-KYC Services for Libraries Explore More

    Blog

    On-Premises Identity Verification – A Solution to Prevent Data Breaches

    From virtual modes of communication to digitised solutions for operating efficiently, the perks o...

    On-Premises Identity Verification – A Solution to Prevent Data Breaches Explore More

    Biometric Technology, Blog

    4 Reasons why Facial Recognition is Better at Biometric Verification than Fingerprint Scans

    Biometric verification is smartphones was introduced nearly five years ago when iPhone launched i...

    4 Reasons why Facial Recognition is Better at Biometric Verification than Fingerprint Scans Explore More

    Blog

    Cryptocurrency Exchanges and negative KYC Compliance

    KYC & AML Compliances are not being upheld by almost 68% of the cryptocurrency exchanges arou...

    Cryptocurrency Exchanges and negative KYC Compliance Explore More

    Blog, Fraud Prevention

    8 Fraud Prevention Tips for a smooth business uptake in 2018

    The Need for Fraud Prevention As technology has evolved over the years, the way we do business ha...

    8 Fraud Prevention Tips for a smooth business uptake in 2018 Explore More

    Blog

    Improving Identity Verification Processes Through Perpetual KYC – How Shufti Helps the Banking Sector

    Banks are considered a subset of the financial services industry and play the most crucial role i...

    Improving Identity Verification Processes Through Perpetual KYC – How Shufti Helps the Banking Sector Explore More

    Blog

    Brazil’s Updated Regulatory AML Guidelines for 2023

    Money laundering, corruption, and drug trafficking are prevalent issues in Brazil, the world’s se...

    Brazil’s Updated Regulatory AML Guidelines for 2023 Explore More

    Blog

    5 Effective Ways Shufti Combats First-party Fraud

    After analysing fraud incidents of the previous year and the current one, we observed an interest...

    5 Effective Ways Shufti Combats First-party Fraud Explore More

    Biometric Technology, Blog

    How Liveness Detection is an apt Answer for Facial Spoof Attacks?

    The world went haywire on the launch of the new iPhone X; well, to be honest, when does it not? H...

    How Liveness Detection is an apt Answer for Facial Spoof Attacks? Explore More

    Blog

    Online ID Verification – A Solution to Tax Refund Fraud

    An increase in identity theft and tax fraud have become a major concern these days. Criminals are...

    Online ID Verification – A Solution to Tax Refund Fraud Explore More

    Blog

    Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Solutions – Securing Luxury Goods and Curbing Financial Crimes

    Exotic cars, designer clothes, artifacts, and private jets make attractive news headlines and mov...

    Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Solutions – Securing Luxury Goods and Curbing Financial Crimes Explore More

    Blog

    Curbing Real Estate Crimes with AML Screening Solutions – How Shufti Can Help

    In course of history, money laundering has always remained most complicated issue for governments...

    Curbing Real Estate Crimes with AML Screening Solutions – How Shufti Can Help Explore More

    Blog, Financial Crime / AML

    FSA demands greater AML Compliance from Japanese Crypto Exchanges

    In a recent move, Financial Services Agency (FSA), the Japanese Financial regulator, has demanded...

    FSA demands greater AML Compliance from Japanese Crypto Exchanges Explore More

    Blog, Online Marketplace

    Verify ID For a Secure Travel Experience

    Since we are using the Internet for a great many things including shopping to online booking of f...

    Verify ID For a Secure Travel Experience Explore More

    Blog

    Biometric Authentication: Use Cases and Advantages

    What is Biometric Authentication? Biometric authentication refers to the process of using unique ...

    Biometric Authentication: Use Cases and Advantages Explore More

    Blog

    FATF October 2019 Plenary – Here is What You Need to Know

    Financial Action Task Force (FATF) President Xiangmin Liu, chaired the first meeting from 16-18 O...

    FATF October 2019 Plenary – Here is What You Need to Know Explore More

    Blog

    Elevating Payment Security: The Crucial Role of Biometric Authentication

    There has been a considerable rise in digital payment methods in recent years. People now prefer ...

    Elevating Payment Security: The Crucial Role of Biometric Authentication Explore More

    Take the next steps to better security.

    Contact us

    Get in touch with our experts. We'll help you find the perfect solution for your compliance and security needs.

    Contact us

    Request demo

    Get free access to our platform and try our products today.

    Get started