Canada's anti-money laundering agency conducted on-site examinations of more than 800 real estate companies over four-and-a-half years and found "significant" or "very significant" deficiencies during 60 per cent of those visits, new data shows. The federal anti-money laundering watchdog found "significant" deficiencies with the anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing controls at 468 of those companies, while 28 companies had "very significant" deficiencies. Very significant deficiencies include instances where there is an "unacceptable" number of minor and serious issues, or infractions that are "very serious" in nature. "There are very, very few real estate brokerage firms that I've come across that actually have dedicated compliance staff," Bensimon said. The Canadian Real Estate Association said it has provided training for its members with regard to preventing money laundering.

Source: CBC News September 14, 2016 12:22 UTC