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Saica pledges support for proposed amendments to Fica

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The South African Institute of Chartered Accountants (Saica) says it supports the proposed amendments to the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (Fica).

However, the institute says it is concerned about the cost implications that compliance will have, especially on small, medium and micro enterprises.

The institute made its submissions to the Standing Committee on Finance during virtual public hearings on proposed changes to the Financial Intelligence Centre Act.

The amendments seek to tighten loopholes in the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorist activities.

SAICA’s Juanita Steenkamp elaborates on the implications that the amendments would have on small medium and micro enterprises.

“They will now have to spend money on this onboarding, certain validations of the people registering with FIC, reporting certain transactions. So, just in terms of that our members as accountants already have a code of professional conduct. We talk about non-compliance laws and regulations. They [are] already supposed to report when there is any non-compliance, so there is already that obligation. But all this now with regard to FIC would be new, will take time, cost and effort to implement,” explains Steenkamp.

Critical weaknesses in the systems put South Africa at risk:

Meanwhile, the Standing Committee on Finance has warned that National Treasury will have to take responsibility if the October deadline of amending the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (Fica) is not met.

It says National Treasury delayed in submitting the proposed amendments.

The amendments seek to tighten loopholes in the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorist activities.

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