Armenia bans real estate registration without notary because of money laundering risk

YEREVAN, November 22. /ARKA/. Armenian parliament on Wednesday approved an amendment to the Civil Code in the second and final reading.

The legislative initiative is aimed at eliminating the risk of tax evasion and money laundering.

Until now, the Civil Code allowed to register property transactions (sale, lease, etc.) in the State Committee of Cadastre without a notary certification, if they were concluded according to ready-made samples.

However, the risks associated with transactions have increased significantly in recent years. In particular, the number of transactions registered as donation of real estate has increased sharply.

There were 12,691 such transactions in 2020, 17,942 in 2021, and 23,099 in 2022. This prompted the Ministry of Justice to suggest that de jure donations are actually either a sale (with an attempt to evade taxes) or an attempt to launder illegally acquired property.

In order to avoid the above-mentioned risks, all transactions, without exception, will have to be certified by notaries. The latter will be required to report to the Central Bank all transactions that arouse their suspicions. --0--