The FSCA recently issued Communication 27 of 2023 informing stakeholders that it will be initiating a process to verify certain information about financial institutions, including criminal records for specific individuals.
Since 1 June 2022, the FSCA has been verifying information, including criminal records, relating to all new licence applicants, and has appointed Managed Integrity Evaluation (Pty) Ltd (MIE) to verify records such as qualifications and criminal records on its behalf. New licence applicants are required to provide the FSCA with all the necessary verification information as part of the licence application process.
With effect from 1 November 2023, the FSCA has undertaken to continuously verify existing information on its system in respect of currently licensed entities. Impacted individuals on the FSCA’s system will be contacted directly by MIE to provide the required information for the verification process.
Impacted individuals
The verification process will be undertaken in respect of:
- Significant owners, key individuals, directors, shareholders, members and trustees of authorised FSPs.
- Significant owners and directors of collective investment scheme (CIS) managers.
The following financial institutions are excluded from the scope of the verification process described in FSCA Communication 27 of 2023:
- Banks, mutual banks and insurers licensed by the Prudential Authority (PA), as the verification process for these entities will be undertaken in a form and manner determined by the PA.
- FSPs that are authorised for non-life insurance and/or health service benefit products only, sole proprietors, partnerships, and members of the controlling body and senior management of Over the Counter Derivative Providers. The verification process for these entities will be undertaken as a separate phase, details of which will be communicated by the FSCA at a later date.
Process for verification
Impacted individuals will receive a link from MIE via the latest contact details as recorded on the FSCA system in order to make a booking at the closest MIE satellite office on a suitable date and time. These individuals will need to attend the MIE satellite office closest to their location to submit the required information (e.g. fingerprints) and take their official identification documents such as ID book/card or passport, to the appointment.
Beneficial Ownership Information
In August 2022, the FSCA issued Information Request 6 of 2022 (RFI 6/2022) relating to ownership of certain financial institutions. The RFI 6/2022 was part of an information gathering exercise to scrutinise the ownership and management of the FSCA’s supervised entities more closely and is aimed at mitigating the risk of financial institutions being used to facilitate criminal activity.
FSCA Communication 27 of 2023 confirms that the e-portals through which information requested under RFI 6/2022 was submitted are still accessible via the FSCA E-Services link.
The link may still be used to continuously update any changes to the information initially provided in response to RFI 6/2022.
All enquiries relating to FSCA Communication 27 of 2023 must be sent to the FSCA by emailing: RFI@fsca.co.za