Juwai IQI Co-Founder and Group CEO Kashif Ansari announced today (May 23) that the company is launching a major new anti-money laundering push with an artificial intelligence (“AI”) component. The initiative’s goal is to improve security and reduce it by as much as 50% the typical homebuyer’s compliance time.
Juwai IQI aims to lead the industry in compliance with the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing, and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act (AMLA). The company is Asia’s largest proptech and operates a network of 30,000 real estate agents globally, including one of Malaysia’s largest real estate agent teams. Juwai IQI is also building a 1,000-strong data and technology team at its new Kuala Lumpur headquarters.
“It is vital to maintain affordability and accessibility in the housing sector by preventing money laundering and criminal activity,” said Juwai IQI Co-Founder and Group CEO Kashif Ansari. “We want to ensure that housing remains affordable and available to the rakyat by keeping laundered money and criminal syndicates out. That’s our responsibility as gatekeepers in the real estate market.
US$32 Trillion of Dirty Money
“There is an enormous amount of dirty money seeking a way into the regular economy. Transparency International estimates there is as much as US$32 trillion (RM141 trillion) of illicit wealth in the world.
“Without strong anti-money laundry regimes like we are announcing today, that money could distort the home market and make it harder for families to afford their own homes and build financial security.
“If we did not tackle money laundering, we would undermine the legitimate private home market and permit bad actors to gain influence and distort prices.
How Juwai IQI Enforces AMLA
“Our enforcement is focused on the secondary market. Real estate agents like Juwai IQI are responsible for enforcing AMLA in the secondary market, while developers and lawyers do so in the off-plan market.
“We have put artificial intelligence at the centre of our efforts. Our new technologies will reduce the amount of time it takes the typical homebuyer to comply with AMLA by as much as 50%.
“Our most important task is to verify the identity of those buying real estate to ensure they are legitimate individuals or organizations. We collect copies of their identification, check their sources of income, and so on.
“We are close to launching a new tool in our Atlas real estate super-app that will permit consumers to more securely and directly upload their documents.
“Once the documents are uploaded, we use artificial-intelligence enhanced machine vision to validate the type of identity documents and that they are genuine. The role of artificial intelligence here is crucial. It makes a cumbersome and slow process more rapid and efficient.
“Since we are required to store these documents for six years, we place them securely behind password-controlled barriers to access. That is consistent with our commitments under the Personal Data Protection Act.
Why Enforcing AMLA Is Important
“Money laundering is a financial crime that can lock Malaysians out of owning their own homes. If we let criminals use dirty money to buy property, that could make homes less affordable for regular buyers.
“We believe it is our responsibility to maintain high standards of practice. We believe our system will help ensure home ownership is preserved for regular Malaysians.”
In related governance news, Juwai IQI also recently announced it will achieve net zero emissions and carbon neutral certification from 2030.
