Property transactions above the threshold bring full client due diligence and the cash-payment ban.

Why it matters

Buyers, sellers and beneficial owners all need checking — fast, before a sale falls through.

Where the scope gets real

Estate agents have to move quickly while dealing with multiple parties, changing transaction timelines and strong commercial pressure. AML work has to happen early enough to avoid last-minute surprises, but smoothly enough not to kill the deal.

Where teams lose time

In practice, that means gathering data from buyers and sellers, identifying beneficial owners behind companies, checking payment-related red flags and proving that the office applied the rules consistently before the transaction advanced too far.

Typical files and mandate types

• Residential sales with private buyers and sellers needing quick identity and funds checks
• Commercial or investment-property deals where the buyer sits behind a company structure
• Lettings or sale mandates where multiple beneficial owners and intermediaries are involved

What Sceau does

• Identify buyer and seller via a single onboarding link
• Built-in cash-payment limit and sanctions screening
• A clean file per transaction, ready for a BIV/IPI inspection

What usually goes wrong

• Deals moving too fast for the evidence file to catch up
• Company purchasers whose beneficial owners are declared late or inconsistently
• Payment expectations that conflict with the cash ban or the client profile

How Sceau works in practice

• Send one onboarding flow to each relevant party and track outstanding items in one place
• Check sanctions, open-source PEP signals, adverse media and the cash-payment prohibition before acceptance
• Keep a clean, transaction-specific evidence pack ready for internal review or a BIV/IPI inspection

What changes operationally

• Agents can see immediately which side is holding up the file
• Compliance no longer depends on inbox chasing and scattered attachments
• The agency can demonstrate a consistent process across high-volume deal flow

What stays under your control

Sceau structures the file around the transaction itself. Every party, request, upload, screening result and review note sits under one matter so the agency can show what it checked before the sale progressed.