ESTATE agents could be forced to carry out checks on their customers as part of new anti-money-laundering rules.

They may also be legally obliged to report any clients they have any suspicions about.

One of the Island’s estate agents has reacted furiously to the idea, saying it is ‘ludicrous’ and ‘bureaucracy gone mad’ and that it could put some estate agents to the wall because of the extra costs involved.

The extension of the anti-money-laundering laws is being considered by the Jersey Financial Services Commission, which has an eye on an inspection of the Island by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2008.

The International Financial Action Task Force recommended extending the laws to estate agents in 2003 and Jersey is likely to come under pressure to follow suit from the IMF.

The recommendations would require estate agents involved in property transactions to know their customers in the same way that banks are required to, and to report any suspicions they may have about clients to the authorities.

They would also be required to have in-house anti-money-laundering programmes, including staff training and procedures to ensure that they are complying with the law.

‘They clearly have absolutely no idea what it is we do,’ said Roger Trower , a director of one of the Island’s biggest estate agencies, Broadland Estates.

‘We just act as an agent between a seller and a buyer.

We don’t hold vast amounts of money or get involved in the money side at all.

That’s up to the banks and the lawyers – and they fall under the anti-money-laundering laws anyway, so what’s this all about?