Client Money Handling Policy

CBRE NI – CLIENT MONEY HANDLING POLICY

When holding client money, companies regulated by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), including CBRE NI, must comply with all RICS rules and regulations on handling client monies. Rule 8 of the RICS Rules of Conduct for Firms states: ‘A firm shall preserve the security of clients’ money entrusted to its care in the course of its practice or business.’ As part of these RICS requirements and due diligence this policy sets out details of the CBRE NI client money handling guidelines and procedures implemented to safeguard Client Monies and to comply with regulatory requirements.

CBRE NI are aware of the Professional Statement on Client Money Handling and have taken steps to ensure that we comply with the requirements. The professional statement has provided CBRE NI with guidance on the written procedures that we are required to publish under the Client Money Protection Scheme as provided by RICS. CBRE NI are registered by RICS under the RICS Client Money Protection Scheme for Surveying Services.

Associated Regulations & Guidance

  • RICS Rules of Conduct

  • RICS Client Money Protection Scheme

  • RICS Professional Standard – Client Money Handling (1st edition)

WHAT IS CLIENT MONEY?

Client money relates to money of any currency, whether in the form of electronic transfer cash or cheque, which is:

  • Held or received on behalf of another person, including money held by a regulated firm as stakeholder.

  • Is not immediately due and payable on demand.

HOW CLIENT MONEY IS HELD BY CBRE NI?

As part of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) professional statement (Client money handling, effective from 1st January 2020), and internal due diligence, client money held or received by CBRE NI is banked and held in a general clients’ bank account with an appropriate banking institution with a minimum rating of BBB+, namely Bank of Ireland UK (BOI), which is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the PRA.

CBRE NI, as an RICS regulated company are registered with the RICS Client Protection Scheme for Surveying Services.

CBRE NI Banking Details:

  • Bank of Ireland, Belfast City Branch, 1, Donegall Square South, Belfast, BT1 5LR. Sort Code: 90-21-27.

Client monies are held separately from CBRE NI own monies, are easily identifiable and immediately available. A general clients’ bank account is a Client Bank Account which holds pooled client money belonging to more than one client which is then allocated to individual client property funds within the CBRE NI accounting system of choice, Qube. Monies belonging to a single client are allocated to the clients’ ledger located on Qube. All allocated Client monies are held separately and further details of where funds are held can be found within the Property Management Agreement (PMA).

CBRE NI have two client bank accounts:

  1. Tenancy Deposit Account

  2. General Client Monies Account for all property instructions

Both bank accounts are in the name of LDM Belfast Limited t/a CBRE NI and the relevant signatories for CBRE NI have exclusive control over the client money accounts. BOI has confirmed to CBRE NI in writing that all money standing to the credit of the account is held by CBRE NI as trustee and the bank is not entitled to combine the account with any other account or to exercise any right of set-off or counterclaim against money in that account in respect of any sum owed to it on any other account of CBRE NI.

BANKING CHARGES AND INTEREST

All bank accounts are current accounts. No banking charges incurred on the operation of client monies are passed to clients. CBRE NI will cover transactional banking and account maintenance charges associated with the operation of such accounts.

The CBRE NI tenancy deposit bank account is subject to interest paid by BOI at various rates. The interest paid is compounded and apportioned to each individual tenant deposit held within. The bank account holding general client funds is not subject to interest accrual.

INCOME ALLOCATION

Monies received are a mixture of electronic receipts (CHAPS/BACS/Standing Order) that are received direct into the accounts, and cheques received by CBRE NI on behalf of clients. All cheques received are banked within 72 working hours (banking deadlines permitted). All identified income is reviewed and assigned via our accounting system, Qube, within 24 working hours of funds crediting our accounts. Any discrepancies identified are investigated and resolved immediately.

CLIENT PAYMENTS

A withdrawal from a client account can only be made after authority has been approved by a signatory in accordance with the banks mandate and CBRE NI’s procedures, processes and systems. All payment requests must be accompanied by supporting evidence that has been checked and authorised. Segregation of duties in the accounting function is in place to prevent data tampering within the payment process.

TENANT PAYMENTS

Tenant Deposit Handling

  • Deposit accounts must be segregated and easily identifiable.

  • Tenant deposit monies cannot be used at the benefit of the Client or CBRE NI.

  • The tenant deposit account is interest bearing and accruals are in line with BOI rates.

  • Using deposit funds to clear outstanding arrears must be agreed with the tenant and client and or complying with the relevant clause within the PMA.

RECONCILIATIONS

CBRE NI bank accounts are reconciled monthly using a 3-way reconciliation between the bank, general ledger and individual client ledgers, as required by the RICS. Monthly bank reconciliations and individual client ledgers are reviewed and reconciled by the CBRE NI Senior Accounts Manager and further validated by the Head of Property Management.

PAYMENT ALLOCATION AND RETURNS OF PAYMENTS TO CBRE NI IN ERROR

CBRE NI will endeavour to ensure that the investigation and allocation of payments have been completed in a timely manner and pursuant to the RICS Client Money Handling rules. These steps include:

  • Search functions on all host systems for tenant, property, client, and supplier.

  • Remittance matching and email requests to tenant, client, and suppliers for information.

  • Bank systems searches for additional income narratives.

  • Internal escalation to all CBRE departments.

  • Internet searches.

  • Writing to the last known address of the client/tenant where applicable.

On occasions where monies are unable to be allocated to a particular client (or other correct payer/recipient as the case may be), CBRE NI will hold the funds for further investigation. If that investigation confirms that the funds were paid to CBRE NI in error, where possible these funds will be returned to the payer.

UNIDENTIFIED FUNDS

If after three years, notwithstanding CBRE NI having taken all reasonable steps to identify the owner or payer of the funds, the client, payer, or owner of money received by CBRE NI has not been found and the monies cannot be returned to sender, the funds will be donated to a registered charity, unless otherwise determined by the Executive Management Team. CBRE NI will obtain a receipt and an indemnity from the charity for this transaction so that if the true beneficiary comes forward to collect the money, it can be made available to them.

January 2026 v6