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FICA COMPLIANCE FOR MOTOR VEHICLE DEALERS

Is your motor vehicle dealership fully compliant with the obligations of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA)? If you are in any doubt, Masthead can help you to meet the FICA requirements.

Motor vehicle dealerships are vulnerable to abuse due to the large cash value of transactions they process. Criminals who want to hide their illegal proceeds see motor vehicle dealerships as a potential target to launder money.

Previously, motor vehicle dealers were listed as reporting institutions in the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA). Since the FICA Schedules were amended in December 2022, motor vehicle dealers are included in the high-value goods dealers category as accountable institutions, in certain instances. As a motor vehicle dealer is it important to know what FICA requires of you, your dealers and your dealership.

Your dealers should be aware of what to look out for and have regular reminders of their FICA obligations. Training programmes for new employees should include appropriate FICA orientation. Your dealership should have processes to identify, monitor and report suspicious individuals and activities. Furthermore, there should also be a way to keep track of FICA updates.

During the 2020/21 financial year, the FIC imposed administrative sanctions on 24 non-compliant motor vehicle dealers. Two of the dealers have appealed. The 22 sanctions imposed amounted to more than R28.5 million.

Take steps now to ensure your dealership complies with FICA, as the penalties of non-compliance are steep.

A FICA compliance solution for motor vehicle dealerships

Masthead provides a holistic FICA compliance solution to motor vehicle dealerships. To start, we explain your obligations in terms of FICA and then help you to fulfil the specific criteria.

One of the obligations is to register your motor vehicle dealership with the FIC. Your business details should also always be up to date on the FIC database. We will gladly walk you through the process to register your dealership or update your business information with the FIC.

FICA Risk Management and Compliance Programme

Our solution includes access to our FICA Risk Management and Compliance Programme (RMCP), which we customise for your dealership. This will equip and empower you to comply with the processes and procedures to gather information, monitor transactions and report.

The RMCP is also about implementing a risk-based approach in your dealership for ongoing FICA compliance. We assist you to document which client information and transaction details your employees need to record and assist in setting processes to monitor transactions and report suspicious transactions or activities.

FICA and AML Online Course for Motor Vehicle Dealers

To ensure you and your staff are fully aware of FICA, the implications for your business and each person’s regulatory obligations, we offer an online training course. Your staff can learn at their own pace and opt for refresher sessions, while interactive quizzes assess their understanding. In this way, you can easily keep track of their progress and document their learnings. The course is updated as FICA is amended, so you can remain compliant.

Webinars to guide you through your FICA requirements

We host webinars to help guide you through all the elements that need to be included in your FICA RMCP and get a good understanding or the requirements.

Why choose Masthead?

Masthead has successfully offered compliance services to the financial advice industry for almost two decades. We have since extended our services to other industry sectors that are required to comply with FICA.

With our national footprint, experience and resources, we can easily provide our services to motor vehicle dealerships across South Africa. Our consultants have an in-depth knowledge of FICA and how to implement Masthead’s solutions. Furthermore, we are well placed to keep you informed about FICA updates and assist you to comply with new obligations.

We would be happy to assist you with your compliance. For more information on our services, or to discuss how to proceed, please contact us.

MASTHEAD IS

A national supplier of risk management services to independent financial advisors and other licensed financial service providers (FSPs). Established in 2004, we help our clients overcome their risk management challenges so they can grow and thrive in an increasingly regulated industry. Providing professional guidance and practical support, our team of specialists is passionately committed to delivering tangible solutions.

Why Masthead?

CONTACT US

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021 686 3588

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