The Financial Intelligence Agency of Liberia (FIA), through its Risk and Strategic Analysis Section, has released its first critical risk assessment report on the country’s real estate sector-highlighting serious vulnerabilities to money laundering (ML) and terrorist financing (TF).
The report analyzes the nature of terrorist financing threats and outlines the types of real estate institutions, professionals, and services most exposed to financial crime risks. It also recommends key measures for mitigating and monitoring those risks.
According to the FIA, the assessment focused on identifying weaknesses within the legal framework and vulnerabilities associated with developers, brokers, agents, concessionaires, and construction companies. It also considered the roles of private land administrators, real estate unions, regulators, and other stakeholders.
Conducted in line with international best practices, the assessment covered five counties, Montserrado, Margibi, Grand Bassa, Bong, and Nimba, selected for their high populations and significant real estate activity.
The new risk assessment builds on earlier findings from the 2019 National Risk Assessment (NRA) and the 2023 Mutual Evaluation Report (MER2), both of which flagged the real estate sector as highly profitable but poorly regulated.
The 2019 NRA report particularly noted that:
The sector lacked a formal regulatory body.
AML/CFT (Anti-Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism) regulations were largely absent.
Sector actors, including brokers and developers, had limited awareness or training on AML/CFT standards.
That report also warned that most real estate properties in Liberia are located on leased lands tied to prominent Liberian families, making transactions difficult to trace and monitor.
The current FIA assessment reinforces those findings and highlights the urgent need for reform, especially in strengthening due diligence, transparency, and record-keeping in real estate transactions.
It further recommends expanding future risk assessments to include the informal economy, a major component of the real estate landscape in Liberia.
The Real Estate Risk Assessment was led by teams from FIA’s Risk and Strategic Analysis, Regulation & Supervision, and Analysis Sections, in collaboration with staff from the Liberia Land Authority (LLA), including county land administrators.
A wide range of national stakeholders participated in the process, including:
Liberia Revenue Authority
Liberia Business Registry
Ministry of Justice
Probate and Circuit Courts
Notaries Public
Liberia National Police
Liberia Anti-Corruption Commission
Law firms and bar associations
Association of Liberia Construction Contractors
Liberia Real Estate Union
Federation of Real Estate Agents of Liberia (FE-REAL)
These institutions were recognized for their critical roles in the buying, selling, leasing, mortgaging, documentation, investigation, prosecution, and adjudication of real estate-related cases.
The FIA emphasized that Liberia must move quickly to strengthen oversight of the sector, increase inter-agency coordination, and ensure all actors are trained and aware of their responsibilities under AML/CFT frameworks.
This report, while the first of its kind, signals what experts hope will be a turning point for transparency and accountability in Liberia’s rapidly expanding real estate market.
