This afternoon Countrywide issued a statement about this morning’s RICS disciplinary hearing into client funds, after accepting a reprimand and a fine of £100,000.

The statement, headed “comment on RICS findings”  said that no customer had suffered any loss.

A spokesperson for the RICS this afternoon told EYE that it was expecting to publish the outcome of the case shortly.

The full Countrywide statement is as follows:

“Back in 2008 we started to accumulate many thousands of individual small amounts on client accounts in our lettings businesses, where funds over six years old could not be traced to source.

“Some would have been rightly Countrywide funds and others small amounts of landlord/tenant sums that could not be traced.

“It was agreed at the time to move these untraceable amounts to an office account and put in place an indemnity that, should ever a recipient be identified, the amount would be paid across.

“In reality less than 1% were ever traced after six years. Immediately we paid over the amount due and customers did not suffer any loss.

“After ten years of audits an issue was raised in 2018 that this may not be in accordance with RICS Rules.

“Countrywide repaid all of the funds that had been transferred from office to unnamed client accounts.

“Importantly nobody has been disadvantaged but we decided to resolve the RICS matter immediately through a full transfer.”