Estates agents, accountants, casinos and other financial businesses are to face strict supervision to ensure that they report suspicious moves to launder money.

Measures to be announced today will put under scrutiny property transactions used to “hide” money gained illicitly. Professionals such as accountants, lawyers and trust organisers will be required to establish the source of wealth of people who approach them in high-risk situations. People formerly associated with questionable regimes overseas who then seek to set up trusts or companies in Britain would fall into that category.

The moves are parts of the Government’s efforts to prevent the financing of terrorism by forcing criminals and potential terrorists into the open.

Firms such as estate agents are already required to to disclose suspicious activity but no one oversees them to make sure that they do so. Under today’s changes to be announced by Ed Balls, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, their regulatory bodies, in the case of estate agents the Office of Fair Trading, will be charged with making sure that they carry out their duties. The Law Society supervises lawyers and the Gambling Commission will ensure that casinos do what is required of them.

In an associated move Mr Balls will ease the regulatory burden where there is a low risk of abuse, such as in employer-led pension funds and the administration of child trust funds. In those cases there will be less form-filling for consumers and companies will be able to rely on checks made by other companies.

In more sensitive areas, however, there will be much tougher supervision. The regulations to be set out by Mr Balls come after talks with the police, industry and the regulatory bodies to help Britain to respond to new financial threats.

There will be strict tests to ensure that people running the 3,200 money service businesses, including bureaux de change, and those who set up trusts and companies are “fit and proper”.

Companies will be required to carry out extra tests on those which they regard as posing a risk of money laundering.

Mr Balls will say today: “These regulations will strengthen further the UK’s defences against money laundering and terrorist finance. By taking tough and targeted new measures where the risks are greatest we will crack down further on illegal activity and help force criminals and would-be terrorists out of the shadows.

“At the same time our regulations will ensure that businesses and consumers in low-risk situations face fewer burdens than previously.”

In the next few weeks, the Government is to publish an anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing strategy document, which will set out how the Government will meet the challenges of increasing sophistication in these areas over the next five years.

The proposals are effective across the “regulated sector”. Regulated firms include the financial sector, professionals such as lawyers and accountants, casinos, trust and company service providers and estate agents.

Home Office figures suggest that the most serious forms of organised crime generate a turnover of £15 billion per year.

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