Barbados’ leading estate agents’ body says knowing anti-money laundering rules is no longer enough, a message with clear echoes in Jamaica, where property has been singled out as a growing area of money laundering risk.
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, 13 October 2026, Real estate agents in Barbados have been told they must be able to show, deal by deal, that they are applying the island’s anti-money laundering laws, and buyers and sellers have been encouraged to question any agent who skips the required checks. The message, from Chris Hassell, president of the Barbados Estate Agents and Valuers Association (BEAVA), comes as Barbados prepares for an international review of its financial controls. It lands in a region where property is under growing scrutiny as a channel for illicit money, including in Jamaica, where the latest national risk assessment placed real estate among the sectors of greatest concern.
From knowing the rules to proving them
Barbados Today reported that Hassell spoke after a two-day workshop run by the Compliance Unit of the Anti-Money Laundering Authority, held under the theme “Check. Comply. Continue.” Attorneys-at-law, real estate agents, accountants and dealers in precious metals and stones took part.
Estate agents in Barbados are classified as Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professionals, which obliges them to know their clients, assess risk and keep proper records. Hassell acknowledged that some agents have questioned the designation. Their objections are practical: agents do not hold or move client money, which passes through attorneys; their checks may duplicate work lawyers already do; compliance is expensive for small firms; and there are concerns about how clients’ personal information is stored. He described these as fair questions that the association would pass on through the proper channels, while backing an approach proportionate to risk and suited to local conditions. But he was clear that the law applies, and that agents must document every transaction as evidence that they are following it. Agents who are unfamiliar with entity risk assessments, or unsure when enhanced due diligence is needed, risk falling behind, he warned.
He accepted that most property deals in Barbados are low risk, but argued that every one still needs documented and verified checks, and that clients who expect proper due diligence will help lift professional standards across the industry.
A deadline in the background
The push has a national backdrop. Barbados Today reported in May that the island had just over a year to satisfy international assessors that its controls work in practice, with a review team due in June 2027 to interview the private sector, law enforcement and regulators. Barbados was removed from the Financial Action Task Force grey list and the European Union’s high-risk list after what the Finance Minister described as more than seven years of work, and the President of the Senate has warned that the next round of evaluations comes with tighter rules.
BEAVA, which already runs education for its members, plans to add a dedicated monthly anti-money laundering module in 2027 and intends to work with the Barbados Association of Compliance Professionals, the Financial Intelligence Unit and the Compliance Unit on it.
Jamaica’s own warning signs
The debate will sound familiar in Jamaica. Real estate dealers here already carry anti-money laundering duties under the Proceeds of Crime Act, with the Real Estate Board monitoring their compliance. Even so, the Third National Risk Assessment, published by the Bank of Jamaica in June and covering 2021 to 2025, gave the real estate dealer sector, alongside motor vehicle dealers, a medium-high residual risk rating, the Gleaner reported. The assessment also identified real estate development as an emerging target for criminals, citing high transaction values, ownership hidden behind companies, third-party funding, quick resales and cross-border investment as weaknesses that can obscure who really owns a property and where the money came from.
It also identified a gap. Real estate developers, assessed as a separate sub-sector, fall outside the designated non-financial institutions order and therefore have no legal duty to carry out due diligence on their clients. The Bank of Jamaica and the Real Estate Board examined 385 development applications filed between 2021 and 2024, with a combined declared cost of J$299.6 billion. The main pattern of concern was projects declared as entirely self-financed, with labour and materials paid in cash, although the review found no widespread irregularities and concluded that the sector generally operated legitimately. The Real Estate Board is seeking legal amendments to strengthen beneficial ownership and source of funds provisions.
What it means for buyers
For buyers and sellers in either country, the practical consequence is more paperwork, and that is not necessarily a bad thing. Questions about identity, the source of a deposit or who ultimately stands behind a purchasing company can feel intrusive, particularly for diaspora buyers paying from abroad. Yet Hassell’s point, that a client should worry when an agent is not asking the right questions, applies just as well in Kingston or Montego Bay as in Bridgetown. Proper checks protect honest parties from being drawn into a tainted transaction, and they protect the wider market from the distortions that laundered money can bring.
The direction of travel across the region is towards evidence rather than assurances. Barbados faces its assessors in 2027, and Jamaica’s regulators are pressing for tighter rules on beneficial ownership and the source of funds in property development. For agents, developers and attorneys, compliance is becoming a standing cost of doing business. For buyers, a few extra questions at the start of a deal are a modest price for confidence in the market they are buying into.
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