---
title: "Financial services offenders to pay up a collective R36.9m in sanctions this year"
description: "Old Mutual is one of the companies that has received a multimillion-rand fine for failing to comply with the Financial Intelligence Centre Act."
type: "NewsArticle"
publisher: "Daily Maverick"
site: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za"
section: "CRACKING THE WHIP"
author: "Neesa Moodley"
author_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/neesa-moodley/"
canonical_url: "https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-09-29-fined-financial-services-offenders-to-pay-a-collective-r36-9m-this-year/"
published: "2024-09-29T16:49:54"
updated: "2024-09-29T16:49:57"
lang: "en-ZA"
word_count: 444
---

# Financial services offenders to pay up a collective R36.9m in sanctions this year

> Old Mutual is one of the companies that has received a multimillion-rand fine for failing to comply with the Financial Intelligence Centre Act.

By Neesa Moodley · Published 29 September 2024, 18:49 SAST · Updated 29 September 2024, 18:49 SAST

## Key points
- The Prudential Authority of the South African Reserve Bank is dishing out hefty fines to financial services companies like Old Mutual Life Assurance for flouting anti-money laundering regulations, in a bid to clean up South Africa's act and shake off the FATF greylist by 2025.
- Prudential Authority of SARB imposes hefty fine on Old Mutual Life Assurance for FIC Act non-compliance.
- South Africa aims to exit FATF greylist by 2025, with regulatory crackdown intensifying.
- Old Mutual hit with R15.9-million penalty for various violations, including CDD and RMCP shortcomings.
- Regulatory actions highlight industrywide push for stronger anti-money laundering measures.

## Content

The Prudential Authority (PA) of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) is racking up more notches on its administrative sanctions belt.

The punitive actions are all part of South Africa’s strategy to be removed from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) greylist by June 2025.

**Read more:**[Treasury cautiously optimistic that SA will brave ‘tough challenge’ to get off FATF greylist](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-07-02-treasury-cautiously-optimistic-sa-will-brave-tough-challenge-to-get-off-fatf-greylist/)

The latest financial services company to be smacked with a multimillion-rand fine is Old Mutual Life Assurance, for non-compliance with the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) Act, following an inspection in 2020.

Old Mutual will have to cough up R15.9-million, of which R5.9-million is conditionally suspended for three years as from 23 July 2024. The administrative sanctions consist of four cautions and the financial penalty. In a media statement, the SARB outlined Old Mutual’s transgressions as follows:

- **Customer due diligence (CDD) obligations** – This included failure to verify the physical address of clients and identify the beneficial owners of clients. The PA imposed a caution not to repeat the conduct which led to the non-compliance and a financial penalty of R6-million, of which R2-million is conditionally suspended for three years;
- **Cash threshold reporting (CTR) obligations** – Failure to report timeously cash transactions above the prescribed limit to the FIC. The PA imposed a caution not to repeat the conduct which led to the non-compliance and a financial penalty of R4.9-million, of which R1.9-million is conditionally suspended for a period of 36 months;
- **Suspicious and unusual transaction report (STR)** – Failure to report timeously on suspicious and unusual transactions to the FIC. The PA imposed a caution not to repeat the conduct which led to the non-compliance; and
- **Risk management and compliance programme (RMCP) –**Old Mutual failed to develop a risk management and compliance programme. The PA imposed a caution not to repeat the conduct which led to the non-compliance and a financial penalty of R5-million, of which R2-million is conditionally suspended for a period of three years.

The RMCP is intended to:

- identify, assess and monitor the company’s money laundering/ terrorist financing (ML/TF) and proliferation financing risks;
- adequately risk rate clients prior to onboarding;
- show evidence that the (ML/TF) risk rating methodology is applied consistently;
- implement secondary ML/TF risk indicators;
- show evidence that the company has documented its consideration of local geographical location risks; and
- adequately implement anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism obligations and controls in relation to its CDD, CTR and STR obligations.

**Read more:**[Financial service regulators crack whip as Sasfin fined R160-million for non-compliance](https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-08-07-sasfin-fine-the-latest-as-regulators-crack-whip-to-get-greylisting-lifted/)

Other companies that have come under the whip this year for non-compliance with the FIC Act are:

![(Table: Compiled by Neesa Moodley)](https://cdn.dailymaverick.co.za/i/AOtbUKgcJFrci8SiMi_I2o0AXzg=/200x100/smart/filters:strip_exif\(\)/file/dailymaverick/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/table.jpg)

*(Table: Compiled by Neesa Moodley)*

**DM**