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FICA compliance
- 26 May 2023
- Legal and Compliance
- South African Accounting Academy
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 for criminals to benefit from the proceeds of crime. The FIC Amendment Act (FICAA) brings South Africa closer to international standards and best practices recommended by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
Remember that the new AI sectors have a transitional period of 18 months from 19 Dec 2022, so until June 2024 before FIC will penalise them for non-compliance!
The key obligations in terms of the FICAA are:
- Register with the FIC
- Appoint an Anti Money-Laundering (AML) / Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) Compliance Officer
- Develop an RMCP (Risk Management and Compliance Programme)
- Perform Customer Due Diligence
- Submit reports to the FIC
- Accountable Institutions are obligated to report any suspicious behaviour or transactions to the FIC.
- This includes reporting any cash transaction in excess of R49 999.
- Record keeping
- Ongoing training
Click here to access the full article for more detail on each of the above:
https://www.golegal.co.za/requirements-fica-compliant/
Relevance to Auditors, Independent Reviewers & Accountants:
- FICA is yet another piece of legislation that your clients must comply with, and which you must assess compliance with. If they don’t comply with the relevant laws and regulations, you have certain reporting obligations in terms of NOCLAR (NOn-Compliance with Laws And Regulations) – this could include reporting to management, qualifying your audit opinion, reporting a Reportable Irregularity, etc.
- As an auditor, independent reviewer and accountant, you need to be aware of interesting articles that you and your clients can use in practice.
- You need to consider that your clients who are regarded as accountable institutions, are complying with their responsibilities in terms of FICA.
Relevance to Your clients:
- An accountable institution has a duty to comply with the FIC Act and its obligations, otherwise they could be held liable.
- Your clients need to be aware of interesting articles that they can use in practice.
To stay current with all the latest changes and updates subscribe to our Monthly Compliance and Legislative Update series for R 250.00 per month. This gives you access to a monthly 2-hour webinar and monthly newsletter:
https://accountingacademy.co.za/profession/monthly-legislation-update
Get all your CPD online. SA Accounting Academy (SAAA) offers Subscription Plans, Live Webinars, Webinars On-Demand, Access to Experts, Courses, Articles and more:
https://cpd.accountingacademy.co.za.