Oct 6, 2022

Slaying the FICA Misconceptions in the Real Estate Sector

Property Practitioner handing over keys

As per the Financial Intelligence Centre Amendment Act 1 of 2017 (FICAA) Estate Agents are included in the classification of Schedule 1 Accountable Institutions and therefore are required to comply with ALL the regulations included in the Amendment Act. 

Until recently there has been very little guidance and enforcement of the Act for the Property Sector and this has led to many misconceptions of what it means to be FICA compliant. 

 

We have put together a guide which aims to clear up some of the below misconceptions:

  • Misconception 1: In order to be FICA Compliant estate agents only need to identify their clients and place of residence before entering into either a single transaction or a business relationship
  • Misconception 2: Real Estate Agents don’t need to “Fully” FICA their clients as the Bond originator, bank or conveyancer will
  • Misconception 3: I do credit checks on my clients which covers my FICA obligations
  • Misconception 4: I only need to FICA the person purchasing the property
 
If you thought any of the above misconceptions were true we encourage you to download our FICA Compliance guide for the Real Estate Sector. The guide aims to offer guidance on when FICA should take place during the selling process as well as indicates how tools like nCino KYC Africa, TPN and Lighthouse fit in.
 

Get your copy of our guide here

 

Hawken McEwan

About the author:

Hawken McEwan

Hawken has over 25 years' experience in financial crime compliance, regulatory operations, banking operations, risk and change. Specialising in FICA and Anti-Money Laundering, Hawken is an FSCA approved Compliance Officer, FAIS Key Individual and an advisor to BankSETA around AML due diligence and transaction monitoring. He holds a Masters from the University of Edinburgh, a PGCE from the University of Sunderland and is a certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist.