Reported by CHAVA GOURARIE

The U.S. Treasury Department has renewed a program to root out money laundering in certain high-end property markets beginning Wednesday, the agency announced.

Under the program administered by the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), certain investment advisors and real estate brokers are required to report the real identities of buyers and sellers in all-cash residential property deals. The rule applies to sales above $300,000 in a list of targeted markets that includes Manhattan, Miami, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago, among others.

The program, known as geographic targeting orders, has undergone various expansions and iterations since it first went into effect in 2016, and will soon be wrapped into the Treasury’s larger crackdown on the real estate industry and the secretive shell companies often used to buy and sell luxury homes.

The Treasury recently finalized a new set of rules that will essentially apply the GTO disclosure requirements nationwide, making it harder for luxury-home buyers to remain anonymous. 

The rules are meant to close a loophole that has allowed an estimated $2.3 billion of illicit funds to be funneled through U.S. property sales between 2015 and 2020, according to the Treasury.  

Read full report: https://www.mansionglobal.com/amp/articles/u-s-renews-program-to-root-out-money-laundering-in-real-estate-ahead-of-larger-crackdown-bb47ed28