The Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) has released its annual report covering the key period of April 2024 to March 2025. With South Africa's removal from the FATF greylist on 24 October 2025, this year's release carries particular significance as it provides insight into the progress that led to this milestone achievement.
The impressive achievements highlighted in this report deserve recognition for key stakeholders, including Pieter Smit (Acting Director), Christopher Malan (Compliance and Prevention), Priya Biseswar (Monitoring and Analysis), and Pieter Alberts (Shared Forensics). The dedication and commitment of the leadership at the FIC over the last year has been evident across the sector.
Despite capacity challenges and budgetary constraints, the FIC exceeded eight and achieved 10 of its 20 annual performance targets in 2024/25.
The FIC is focused on efficiencies and actively involved in:
During the period under review, the 55 262 institutions registered with the FIC submitted approximately 13.5 million regulatory reports, which included:
During the 2024/2025 period, the FIC conducted 556 inspections which varied in scope: 66 were full-scope inspections (the inspection of all FICA compliance obligations) and 150 were limited scope inspections (the inspection of specific or identified areas such as registration with the FIC, customer due diligence (CDD), and targeted financial sanctions (TFS)). As part of the 556 inspections, 340 thematic inspections were conducted, mainly to determine whether compliance requirements for submission of risk and compliance returns (RCRs) and risk management and compliance programmes (RMCPs) were met. The legal practitioner sector received the most inspection reports (242), followed by estate agents (165).
The inspections primarily highlighted failures in:
Remedial actions were prescribed for 330 non-compliant institutions and those who did not remediate their non-compliance were consequently subjected to enforcement or monitoring.
The total amount paid in the 2024/25 financial year in respect of the sanctions imposed by the FIC amounted to R2 228 000.
The Schedule 2 supervisory bodies, the South African Reserve Bank (Prudential Authority and Financial Surveillance Department) and the Financial Sector Conduct Authority, also conduct FICA compliance inspections on their licensed institutions and may impose sanctions for non-compliance.
During 2024/2025 the South African Reserve Bank’s Prudential Authority and its Financial Surveillance department imposed sanctions of R143 650 000 and R1 221 452.57 respectively.
The Financial Sector Conduct Authority imposed sanctions amounting to R4 500 000 and a further R2 900 000 stemming from an appeal lodged in the previous financial year, which was dismissed in this financial year.
It wasn't all enforcement action. The FIC published key guidance to support Accountable Institutions, including:
Additionally, The FIC undertook awareness initiatives, from webinars to in-person events, aimed at improving accountable institutions’ understanding of and compliance with FICA obligations
It has been a busy year for the FIC and Accountable Institutions.
There may be temptation to view October's delisting as"mission accomplished" however, financial crime is like a game of cat and mouse: as criminals up their game and become more creative in their schemes, FATF standards will continue to evolve and to strengthen. This means countries need to constantly improve in order to keep up. Cambodia, Nicaragua, Panama and Pakistan, have been greylisted multiple times, showing that delisting isn't permanent protection against future listing.
Taking FICA and compliance seriously must be the new normal.
If you haven’t done so already, we encourage you to review the Financial Intelligence Centre’s detailed Annual Report for further insights.
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