Ethics 2 Flashcards
How do you ensure that you comply with Bribery legislation?
I comply with bribery legislation (Bribery Act 2010) by:
CPD training on the RICS Bribery, Money laundering and Terrorist financing 2019.
Gift register - company policy
Adequate procedures in place
How do you ensure that you comply with Money Laundering legislation?
Anti-Money Laundering Act 2017 & 2022:
- Conduct a written Money Laundering and terrorist financing risk assessment.
- Implement systems to prevent Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing
- CPD training.
- Comply with customer due diligence (CDD), enhanced due diligence (EDD) and simplified due diligence (SDD).
- Anti-Money Laundering checks must be undertaken to confirm the identity of a proposed purchaser of a property and check the source of the funds.
Example: Headingley, Leeds- Full name and address, Verified Photo ID, Certified bank statements, Senior member of staff who is in charge of AML policies for approval.
How do you ensure that you comply with firms Bribery and gift legislation?
CPD training on RICS Bribery, Money laundering and Terrorist financing 2019.
Gift register - company policy
Adequate procedures in place
Tell me about an instance of when you have been offered a gift or hospitality by a client?
Offered bottle of Wine after completing a home survey for my client.
Followed RICS and company guidance by speaking to my compliance officer to check if this was acceptable.
As the bottle of wine was seen as a appreciative gesture not intended to influence my decision and below £20 (appropriate to the work carried out and company policy limits) the Compliance Officer was happy for this to be accepted, however I had to note this gift on the gift register.
Tell me about what you would do if you felt an instruction was outside your scope of experience or knowledge?
PS2: RICS Red book (2022) - states that I can ask for assistance where I feel that is appropriate with expressed acceptance of the client.
RICS Home survey standards (2021)- must decline the instruction if the subject property type is beyond their knowledge and skill level.
Tell me about an instance where you held clients Money?
As a lettings agent I would receive deposits once lets were agreed which were sent to a client account with client reference which was then registered with the TDS.
How would you keep clients money safely and Securely?
I would hold clients money safely in a secured client money account promptly, and are correctly labelled and accounted for.
And only use a client money account for client funds and not mix it with office funds.
RICS PS: Client Money Handling 2022
Tell me about how you would handle a client complaint?
*Professional Standards- RICS Complaints Handling 2016
Speak to the complainant to understand their complaint, then ask them to put the complaint in writing, informing them of a written response within 7 days confirming acknowledgement and information on CHP.
This would be dealt with by a senior member of the firm who will try and resolve the complaint within 28 days.
If the complaint cannot be resolved after this time I would escalate the complaint to the CEDR or ADR.
Tell me about your understanding of your firms process for escalations a complaint to the Alternative Disputes Resolution (ADR)?
When my firm receives a compliant we express that this should be in writing and we issue an acknowledgement letter with dispute handling procedure within 7 days.
The complaint will be reviewed in full by Mr Steve Naylor (Director) and we try to resolve the complaint to your satisfaction within 28 days of receiving the written complaint.
If we cannot resolve your complaint then we give the client the opportunity to escalate the dispute to CEDR or ADR.
Tell me about a conflict of interest check you carried out?
Park Avenue- Semi-detached- I noted this property when undertaking my pre-inspection checks as I had previously surveyed the house within the last 2 months.
I called my admin team who said that the previous buyer had pulled out therefore there was no conflict.
This was noted on the property file and I was able to carry out the survey.
If you identified a potential or actual conflict of interest, how could you handle this?
If I identified a conflict of interest,
I would inform my client immediately of the conflict whether its that I knew the vendor or that I had a personal interest in the property.
I would then advise, that they should instruct another surveyor within my firm or another firm to undertake the survey or valuation.
Ramshead Drive- How did you ensure you could provide a high standard of service?
I was able to provide a high standard of service by researching information on Levitt Cartwright non-standard construction properties prior to the survey so I had a better idea of what to expect and what areas were more prone to defects.
Furthermore, I was also able to advice on speaking to their mortgage adviser as some lenders don’t like dealing with certain non-standard construction properties.
How did you ensure that you acted within your scope off competence?
I acted within my scope of competence as I had previous surveyed these style of properties and I felt confident to seek advice from a more experienced surveyors in my firm if there were areas that I was unsure of.
Headingley- How did you carry out the AML checks?
As part of our agencies Anti-Money Laundering checks I requested certified proof of funds statement from the buyers and also their parents in China.
I also requested passports and residence cards and address verification which were photocopied and date stamped and stored on file for at least 5 years from the end of transaction.
This was then passed to the agencies senior member of staff who dealt with AML.
Did you carry out enhanced due diligence checks because they were not of UK origin?
Yes, as the funds were being transferred from outside the UK and were above £10k and had no prior dealings with the clients.
