Comment
When HMRC or OFSI come knocking, what should an agent be able to show?
Adam: “You need to be able to demonstrate your compliance instantly — not after days of scrambling for documents. That means showing exactly who in your team carried out each check, when it was done, and what the result was. Regulators will also want to see that you have clear policies and procedures in place, and that they are followed consistently across your business. If any red flags were raised, you need to prove they were escalated and reported properly. And of course, all of your records must be secure, auditable, and preserved — including documents, data trails, and evidence of decision-making. With PCVdigital, all of this is available at the touch of a button.”
What compliance risks are agents facing today?
Martin: “The biggest risk is inconsistency. If you can’t demonstrate a firm-wide, repeatable process, and produce evidence quickly, you’re exposed to unlimited fines and even personal liability as the nominated officer with HMRC. With letting agents now required to report suspected sanctions breaches directly to OFSI, there’s zero room for error. Our platform ensures every transaction is dealt with in uniform, and every record is auditable at the click of a button.”
Why is GDPR and data security such a critical consideration in compliance?
Adam: “GDPR compliance is non-negotiable, and the reputational risks of a data breach are huge — as we’ve seen from recent high-profile hacks. When you outsource AML checks to a third-party, customers are effectively handing over their sensitive documents to an unknown brand. That’s poor for customer experience and increases the risk of confidentiality breaches. With PCVdigital, personal data remains under the agent’s control, securely stored, and only the verification record is linked into the CRM. That keeps the process seamless and secure.”
What should an ideal AML / sanctions process look like?
Adam: “An ideal process should be consistent, transparent, and completely under the agent’s control. Every transaction needs to be handled in the same way, which is where automated workflows really help. At the same time, agents should have real-time dashboards and audit-ready reports, giving them visibility of their compliance status across the whole portfolio of business. By branding the process to the agent, clients feel more comfortable sharing their information with the people they already know and trust. And in today’s environment, GDPR-compliant data management and security must be key components, protecting both the client and the business from unnecessary risk. That means using tools which limit access to personal data only for authorised staff members.”
How does PCVdigital improve the AML/KYC process compared to existing solutions?
“Most AML platforms were built for the finance industry, not for property, so they often don’t follow the transaction journey agents and other property professionals actually deal with and certainly don’t build in room for the nuances that only real estate specialists are privy to. With PCVdigital, we’ve mirrored that process step by step and automated it. All an agent needs to do is add a customer’s email address — the system does the rest. It runs the checks, flags anything missing or expiring, and provides alerts if something doesn’t look right. It can manage thousands of records and archive completed transactions for as long as required. That means less admin, fewer inconsistencies, and a process that’s aligned with HMRC requirements.”
Martin: “PCVdigital is the first AML and KYC platform created specifically for property professionals. It delivers a complete compliance toolkit, fully aligned with HMRC and OFSI obligations, so agents can demonstrate robust processes instantly which is crucial if HMRC come knocking, which they can do at any point. The system gives real-time visibility with clear traffic-light reporting and a complete audit trail, making it easy to show who did what and when. Because it’s fully branded to the agent, customers remain within a trusted environment, not redirected to a third party. And critically, with GDPR compliance and advanced security built in, agents keep control of sensitive information and reduce the risks of data breaches.”
Why did you decide to create PCVdigital?
Martin: “Agents are under increasing pressure from HMRC and OFSI to demonstrate robust, auditable AML processes. In the past 12 months alone, over £3.2m of fines have been issued to agents, sometimes simply for failing to register or re-register for supervision. What concerned me most is that many agents rely on third-party providers who collect client data, run checks, and interact directly with customers. That creates inconsistency, increases costs, and puts the reputation of the agent in someone else’s hands. We wanted to build a property-specific tool that removes those risks, automates AML and KYC checks, and gives agents confidence that compliance is always in their control.”