The head of Barbados’ oldest and largest real estate industry body has issued a stark warning to local agents: compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) regulations requires more than just understanding the rules—it demands documented, active implementation of every required check. Chris Hassell, president of the Barbados Estate Agents and Valuers Association (BEAVA), outlined the new industry push following a two-day workshop hosted by the Anti-Money Laundering Authority’s Compliance Unit, themed “Check. Comply. Continue.” The event gathered a cross-section of regulated industry professionals, including attorneys, accountants, precious metal and stone dealers, and the real estate agents at the center of new regulatory requirements.
The regulatory shift in question placed Barbadian real estate agents in the category of Designated Non-Financial Businesses and Professionals (DNFBPs), a classification that imposes binding legal obligations: agents must verify client identities, conduct risk assessments for all transactions, and maintain accurate, permanent records of all due diligence activity. The change has not been universally accepted among the island’s real estate practitioners, and Hassell acknowledged that BEAVA has heard widespread pushback from across the industry.
“Many agents have questioned why we are classified as DNFBPs at all, given that we never hold, transfer, or control client funds in Barbados—those funds always pass through practicing attorneys,” Hassell explained in an interview with local outlet Barbados TODAY. Other common concerns include duplicate due diligence checks that overlap with work already completed by legal teams, disproportionate compliance costs for small, independent brokerages, and challenges around securely storing sensitive client personal data. “These are all fair, legitimate questions, and BEAVA has taken them seriously. We will continue to advocate for our members’ perspectives through official regulatory channels, and we support a risk-proportionate framework that reflects Barbados’ unique market context. But at the end of the day, this is the law of the land, and full compliance is non-negotiable.”
Hassell emphasized that surface-level familiarity with new AML policies and procedures is not sufficient to meet regulatory requirements. To prove compliance, agents must maintain detailed, step-by-step documentation for every single property transaction, providing tangible evidence that due diligence processes have been properly implemented. He publicly recognized practitioners who have already taken proactive steps to update their internal policies, including hiring dedicated compliance officers and integrating required checks into standard transaction workflows. “These agents are setting the bar for the entire sector, and their work is lifting industry-wide standards,” he said. For agents who remain unfamiliar with core requirements like Entity Risk Assessments (written internal reviews of a firm’s money laundering vulnerability and mitigation strategies) or cannot identify when Enhanced Due Diligence is required for high-risk transactions, Hassell warned they are falling out of step with regulatory demands and risk being left behind as the industry adapts.
Beyond internal industry requirements, Hassell called on Barbadian property buyers and sellers to take an active role in enforcing compliance, urging them to question any agent that fails to complete required due diligence checks. “If your agent isn’t asking you the right questions to verify your identity and assess transaction risk, that should be a major red flag,” he said. “You have every right to ask whether your agent is following legally mandated procedures, and to consider whether your transaction is being exposed to unnecessary heightened risk.”
Addressing the persistent argument that agents do not handle client funds and therefore should not face AML obligations, Hassell pushed back, framing real estate agents as critical frontline gatekeepers for financial transparency in the property sector. “Even if we don’t hold funds in the traditional sense, we are still the first point of contact for most transactions, and we have a fundamental responsibility to our clients to keep transactions safe,” he explained. “We have to carry out sufficient due diligence to confirm, as far as possible based on the information we receive, that every transaction we facilitate is legitimate.”
While Hassell noted that the vast majority of property transactions in Barbados fall into the low-risk category for money laundering, he stressed that even low-risk deals require full verification and documentation. “Low risk does not mean no risk, and it never means no checks,” he said. “Every transaction requires full, documented due diligence, no exceptions.”
To help the entire industry meet new compliance standards, BEAVA is expanding its AML training offerings. Starting in 2027, the association will add a dedicated monthly AML training module for all registered agents, on top of its existing ongoing educational programming for members. The new training initiative will be delivered in partnership with the Barbados Association of Compliance Professionals, the Financial Intelligence Unit, and the Anti-Money Laundering Authority’s Compliance Unit, creating a comprehensive resource for agents at every stage of their compliance journey. “Whether you’re just starting to update your processes or you’ve already completed a full regulatory audit, this training will have valuable insights for you,” Hassell said. “Our goal is to raise the entire profession’s standards and make compliance accessible for every agent, regardless of firm size or experience.”