The National Treasury recently published a list of sections from the Financial Intelligence Centre Amendment Act that commenced on 1 April 2019. The sections relate to the identification of persons and entities by the United Nations Security Council and the imposition of financial sanctions.
In particular, the sections which came into effect are:
- Section 2(a) and (c) – which amends section 3 of FICA dealing with the objectives of the Centre.
- Section 3(c) – which amends section 4 of FICA dealing with the functions of the Centre.
- Section 17 – which inserted “Part 2A” on Financial Sanctions into FICA. Part 2A is comprised of:
- Section 26A on the Notification of persons and entities identified by Security Council of the United Nations
- Section 26B on the Prohibitions relating to persons and entities identified by Security Council of the United Nations
- Section 26C on Permitted financial services and dealing with property
- Section 20 – which amends section 28A of FICA dealing with Property associated with terrorist and related activities and financial sanctions pursuant to Resolutions of United Nations Security Council.
- Section 21(b) – which amends section 29 of FICA by adding to the provisions related to reporting on Suspicious and Unusual Transactions.
- Section 24 – which amends section 35 of FICA that deals with Monitoring orders. This section permits a designated judge to order an accountable institution to report to the Centre all transactions in connection with a specific person or specific account where there is reasonable grounds to suspect, inter alia, unlawful activities.
- Section 39 – which inserted section 49A into FICA on the Contravention of Prohibitions relating to persons and entities identified by Security Council of United Nations. This section makes it an offence to contravene section 26B (listed above).
- Section 42 – which substitutes section 51A of FICA with provisions relating to the Failure to report property associated with terrorist and related activities and financial sanctions pursuant to Resolutions of United Nations Security Council.
To access the unofficial version of the FIC Act containing the Amendments, click here.