AML/CFT: the Obligations of Lawyers, Notaries, Accountants and Real Estate Agents

Which professions are covered?#

Article 2 of Law 43-05 on combating money laundering, in its consolidated version, lists seventeen categories of reporting entities. The last seven are not financial institutions:

• chartered accountants (experts-comptables) and licensed accountants (comptables agréés);
• lawyers, notaries and adouls (traditional Moroccan notaries);
• casinos and gaming establishments;
• real estate agents;
• dealers in precious stones and metals;
• dealers in antiques and works of art;
• company service providers (formation, management, registered-office services).

Being listed in Article 2 is not enough: for most of these professions, it is Article 5 that specifies which activities trigger the obligations.

When does a firm come within scope?#

In practice, a law firm arguing a commercial dispute is not covered for that matter, but it is covered if it drafts a company's articles of association or advises on a share transfer. The same firm can therefore have some files in scope and others out of scope: the first task is to tell them apart.

What are the obligations, article by article?#

The law also requires firms to notify the ANRF of the identity of the managers or staff authorised to deal with it. Staff training and the appointment of a compliance contact stem mainly from rules set by the supervisory authorities, which Article 13-1 empowers to specify how Articles 3 to 8 apply.

Who supervises each profession?#

Supervisors issue guidance to the professions, carry out desk-based and on-site inspections and set implementing rules. On 20 January 2022 the Ministry of Justice sent lawyers, notaries and adouls a circular on their obligations. For real estate agents, Order No. 133.23 of the Ministry of Housing specifies due diligence and internal control obligations; according to press reports, the ministry had 45 inspectors in 2022 and had trained more than 1,200 agents.

What are the sanctions?#

• Administrative fine (Article 28): MAD 20,000 to 1,000,000, imposed by the supervisory authority for breaches of, in particular, Articles 3 to 9, 11 and 13. It can be challenged before the administrative court.
• Disciplinary measures (Article 28-1): warning, order to remedy with a remediation plan, temporary suspension of managers or employees, prohibition or restriction of activities, withdrawal of authorisation. The person concerned is heard beforehand. For regulated professions, suspension or striking off is a matter for their disciplinary bodies, to which the supervisor refers its file.
• Criminal penalties for money laundering: 2 to 5 years' imprisonment and a fine of MAD 50,000 to 500,000 for a natural person, and MAD 500,000 to 3,000,000 for a legal person (Article 574-3 of the Criminal Code). Penalties are doubled when the offence is committed in the course of a professional activity (Article 574-4), with possible additional penalties such as confiscation or a ban on practising (Article 574-5).

Why the pressure is rising#

Morocco came off the FATF grey list on 24 February 2023. The MENAFATF mutual evaluation adopted on 24 April 2019 had found that non-financial professions had not identified their risks, were neither supervised nor sanctioned, and filed very few suspicious transaction reports. The 2022 enhanced follow-up report upgraded the ratings of several recommendations concerning them.

The third national risk assessment, approved in January 2025, rates these professions as follows:

In June 2026 the business press summed up the shift: compliance, once a matter for banks, is becoming an issue for real estate agents, lawyers, notaries and accountants, and a condition of economic trust.

What about professional secrecy?#

Article 13 of Law 43-05 means professional secrecy cannot be invoked against the ANRF or the supervisors. The new Law No. 66.23 on the legal profession, published in the Official Bulletin on 21 August 2026, strongly reaffirms professional secrecy and the confidentiality of lawyer-client communications; the press does not attribute any anti-money laundering provision to it. How the two texts fit together therefore warrants analysis by your own adviser. We cover this in detail in our guide to suspicious transaction reports.

A 10-step compliance programme for a small firm#

1. List the types of matters the firm handles and identify those that fall under Article 5.
2. Appoint an AML/CFT officer and notify the ANRF of the persons authorised to deal with it.
3. Draft a firm-wide risk assessment using a risk-based approach.
4. Set a procedure for identifying the client, its representatives and the beneficial owner.
5. Classify every new client and every matter by risk level.
6. Provide for enhanced measures: politically exposed persons, high-risk countries, complex structures.
7. Write the internal suspicious transaction reporting procedure and the confidentiality rule.
8. Organise ten-year record keeping and data protection, in line with Law 09-08 as applied to KYC.
9. Train partners and staff, and keep a record of the training.
10. Review the framework at least once a year and keep evidence of that review.