The year 2024 has been marked by significant events that have impacted South Africa's financial landscape. From global cocaine smuggling operations to local financial crimes, these events...
From the Street to the Boardroom: The Shocking Reality of Money Laundering in South Africa
South Africa’s battle against crime isn’t just fought on the streets—it is waged in online meetings, boardrooms, banks, and businesses nationwide. As our crime rates surge, so does the...
From 25% to 5%: South Africa’s New Ultimate Beneficial Ownership (UBO) Guidance Explained
In the ongoing battle against financial crime, South Africa has taken a significant step forward. The Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) has recently issued new guidance on Ultimate...
Digging Deeper: Changes to Ultimate Beneficial Ownership (UBO) Guidance
Certain types of legal entities, such as companies, trusts, and partnerships, can be particularly susceptible to misuse by criminals due to their structure or inherent characteristics....
The Beneficial Ownership Register: What You Need to Know
In keeping with addressing deficiencies outlined by the FATF and its consequential grey listing of South Africa, the CIPC has been mandated in terms of the General Laws Amendment Act, the...
5 Examples of KYC According to the FIC Act
As an Accountable Institution, one of the key compliance obligations in terms of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act, as amended (FICA), is to perform Customer Due Diligence (CDD) on...
The Key Requirements That Need to be Met in Order to be FICA Compliant
The Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA) was introduced to fight financial crime, such as money laundering, tax evasion, and terrorist financing activities by making it more difficult...
Everything You Need to Know About Ultimate Beneficial Owners [Part 3]
The aim of this three-part series is to connect the dots between the what, why and how of identifying Ultimate Beneficial Owners (UBO’s). So far we have taken a closer look at what UBO’s...
Everything You Need to Know About Ultimate Beneficial Owners [Part 2]
In part one of our series, we had a look at what Ultimate Beneficial Owners (UBO’s) are and why they matter. This included discussing why The FIC Amendment Act requires Accountable...