An estate agency’s AML programme: what it must contain and how to tie agent training to it

Act No. 297/2008 Coll. on protection against the legalisation of proceeds of crime counts among obliged entities everyone authorised to broker the sale, lease and purchase of property; in the case of a lease, only where the monthly rent reaches at least EUR 10,000 (Section 5(1)(i)). For sales and purchases, an estate agency’s AML obligations therefore apply to practically every transaction. An overview of them is given in AML obligations of an estate agency; this article deals with the document on which all the other obligations rest, and with the people who are to apply it in practice.

What the statute requires of the programme

The own-activity programme must be in writing, in the state language, and adapted to the organisational structure, size and business activity of the agency. The agency must update it in particular where its business activity changes or before offering new services, if they may increase the risk of legalisation, and in connection with amendments to the legislation on protection against legalisation. It is approved by the statutory body (Section 20(1)). The mandatory content is listed in Section 20(2), including:

• an overview of the forms of unusual business transactions that may arise precisely in the agency’s activity,
• the manner of client due diligence adapted to the risks identified, and the risk assessment,
• the procedure from detecting an unusual transaction to reporting it without delay to the Financial Intelligence Unit, and the procedure for delaying it,
• retention of data and designation of the responsible person; where that is not the statutory body, it must be a senior employee with direct access to management,
• the content and schedule of staff training,
• vetting of employees and of persons who perform tasks under the Act for the agency outside an employment relationship, and monitoring of compliance with the programme,
• the procedure for ascertaining whether the client or the beneficial owner is a politically exposed or sanctioned person.

Unusual transactions in property dealing

The first item cannot be taken over from a template for banks or bureaux de change; the statute requires forms matching the agency’s business activity. The statutory examples in Section 4(2) nonetheless take a concrete shape in property dealing: the buyer refuses to say where the money for the purchase price comes from, or gives information that cannot be verified; the purchase price is manifestly disproportionate to what the client states about themselves and their business; the transaction, given its complexity, has no apparent economic purpose; the client refuses to be identified; the buyer, given their occupation or standing, plainly cannot be the owner of the money with which they are paying. For each form, the programme should determine what the agent is to do and whom they are to notify.

Basic due diligence under Section 10(1) follows on from that: identification and verification of the client, identification of the beneficial owner, in which the agency must not rely exclusively on the register of legal entities, the purpose of the transaction, checks on politically exposed and sanctioned persons and, depending on the risk, the source of funds and ascertaining whether the client is acting in their own name. The client also includes anyone representing a party to the transaction, typically the owner’s attorney-in-fact (Section 9(d)). On inspection, the agency must demonstrate that the extent of the due diligence was proportionate to the risk (Section 10(4)), which is why a completed client identification record is filed for every transaction.

Training the agents

A programme is useful only if it is known to the people sitting with the client. The statute therefore also fixes the frequency:

An obliged entity is obliged to ensure training of employees aimed at familiarising them with the programme, at least once per calendar year and always before an employee is assigned to work in which they will perform tasks under this Act.

— Section 20(3) of Act No. 297/2008 Coll. (unofficial English translation)

Under the same paragraph, every employee who performs tasks under the Act must have continuous access to the programme. The statute speaks of employees, but in estate agencies clients are also identified by agents working under a trade licence. Under Section 20(2)(k), the programme should also govern the vetting of persons outside an employment relationship, and an agent who is themselves an obliged entity and who performs activity under the Act contractually only for the agency need not have their own programme if they follow the agency’s programme (Section 20(4)). It is therefore sensible to include everyone who works with clients in the training and to bind them to attend in the cooperation agreement; what to watch out for when working with agents under a trade licence is examined in agents under a trade licence and illegal employment.

It makes sense to build the training around situations that agents actually encounter: the client wants to pay from a third party’s account, the selling company cannot document its ownership structure, the buyer presses insistently for a quick signature. It is advisable to keep a record of each training session with the date, the content and the signatures of those attending; on inspection this is the simplest proof that the agency is meeting the obligation under Section 20(3).

Updates and penalties

The Act changed twice in 2026, by amendment No. 73/2026 Coll. with effect from 1 June 2026 and by Act No. 29/2026 Coll. with effect from 17 August 2026, and under Section 20(1) each amendment is a reason to review the programme. What the first of them brought is described in the article AML amendment: goAML registration and stricter beneficial owner verification.

For breaches of duties in client due diligence, in reporting and delaying an unusual transaction, or in retaining data, the Financial Intelligence Unit may impose a fine of up to EUR 1,000,000 or up to twice the unlawful benefit, whichever is higher (Section 33(1)). For the other duties, which include the own-activity programme and training, up to EUR 200,000 (Section 33(3)). A fine may also be imposed on a member of the statutory body (Section 33(4)) and, for offences under Section 33(1), the Financial Intelligence Unit will as a rule publish the operative part of the final decision alongside the fine (Section 33a(1)).

How we can help

The AML own-activity programme and the client identification record with which agents can manage identification form part of the Premium package of estate agency documentation; if you choose ongoing updates with the package, we will work amendments into them. Familiarising your team with the programme and practising situations from your own transactions can be included in agent training and internal checklists.