FICA Compliance
Reduce Risk Stay Compliant
We help South African businesses meet their FICA obligations with tailored RMCPs, practical training and expert compliance support.
Tailored RMCP
A practical, risk based RMCP aligned to your business
Risk Rating Framework
A practical framework to assess and categorise customer risk
Online Training
Engaging FICA training to build a compliant team
Directive 12: Is Your Business Ready?
Regulatory Update
RMCP submission is now an annual FICA requirement for affected accountable institutions.
The Financial Intelligence Centre has introduced Directive 12, which places new obligations on certain accountable institutions under FICA.
Previously, businesses were required to develop, maintain and implement a Risk Management and Compliance Programme (RMCP) and keep it available for inspection.
Directive 12 changes this.
Affected accountable institutions are now required to submit their RMCP to the Financial Intelligence Centre annually through the FIC’s reporting platform.
This means your RMCP is no longer simply an internal compliance document. It is a document that may be submitted directly to the regulator and should accurately demonstrate how your business complies with its obligations under FICA.
What Does This Mean for Your Business?
Your RMCP must be appropriate for the nature, size and complexity of your business and should clearly explain how your organisation identifies, assesses, monitors and manages the risks of money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing.
A generic RMCP downloaded from the internet or copied from another organisation may not adequately reflect the risks, services or procedures of your particular business.
What Are the Consequences of Non-Compliance?
Failing to comply with your obligations under FICA can expose an accountable institution to regulatory action by the Financial Intelligence Centre or the relevant supervisory body.
This can include administrative sanctions and financial penalties, depending on the nature and seriousness of the non-compliance.
Directive 12 also makes it increasingly important for businesses to ensure that their RMCP is current, complete and properly implemented, because affected institutions are now required to provide the document directly to the FIC on a recurring basis.
Simply having an RMCP is therefore not enough. Your business should be able to demonstrate that its RMCP reflects its actual operations and that employees understand and follow the procedures contained in it.
Professionally Drafted RMCP
We prepare an RMCP that takes into account your business activities, customers, services, risk exposure and FICA obligations.
Customer Risk Rating Framework
We provide a practical framework to assist your business in assessing and categorising customers according to their level of FICA risk.
Online FICA Employee Training
We provide online FICA training to help your staff understand the legislation, your compliance procedures and their responsibilities when dealing with customers and suspicious activity.