FICA, verified.

The plain-English guide to South Africa's anti-money-laundering law, and how lawvero keeps your business on the right side of it, every day.

Understand FICA What lawvero Does

South Africa exited the FATF greylist: October 2025

Where it comes from

A law built to keep dirty money out of the system

FICA is the Financial Intelligence Centre Act 38 of 2001, South Africa's central anti-money-laundering law. It exists to detect and deter money laundering, terrorist financing and the financing of weapons proliferation, and to bring South Africa in line with the global standards set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). It created the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) as the country's financial-intelligence unit, and it places clear legal duties on the businesses most exposed to being used to move illicit funds.

2001
FICA enacted, establishing the FIC and South Africa's AML framework.
2017
Amendments introduce the risk-based approach, RMCPs and PEP screening.
2022–23
Beneficial-ownership rules tighten; SA is greylisted by FATF in Feb 2023.
Oct 2025
SA exits the FATF greylist after clearing all 22 action items.
2026–27
Next FATF mutual evaluation, enforcement stays tight, not relaxed.

Who governs it

One Act, a chain of oversight

FICA is administered by the FIC and backed by a layered enforcement structure. Compliance isn't optional guidance: it's law, with real administrative and criminal consequences behind it.

FIC

Financial Intelligence Centre

Administers the Act, receives your reports, produces financial intelligence for law enforcement, runs the goAML reporting system, and supervises and sanctions many sectors, including attorneys since December 2022.

National Treasury

Owns the policy and drives the legislative reforms that keep FICA aligned with international standards.

Supervisory bodies

Sector regulators: the FSCA, the SARB Prudential Authority, the LPC and others, supervise their sectors' FICA compliance alongside the FIC.

★

FATF

The global standard-setter for anti-money-laundering. Its evaluations are why South African law, and enforcement, keeps sharpening.

Who must comply

If you're an "accountable institution", this is you

FICA applies to businesses named in Schedule 1 of the Act, the sectors most likely to be used to move or disguise illicit funds. If your business is on this list, the duties on this page are legal obligations, not best practice.

ITEM 1

Legal Practitioners

Attorneys, conveyancers and trust-account advocates, especially those handling property transfers and client funds in trust.

PROPERTY

Property Practitioners

Estate agents and property businesses facilitating high-value transactions.

FINANCE

Banks & FSPs

Banks, financial service providers, lenders, insurers and money remitters.

TCSP

Trust & Company Services

Businesses that form, administer or provide officers for companies and trusts.

DEALERS

High-value Goods Dealers

Motor-vehicle dealers, Krugerrand and precious-metal dealers, and other high-value-goods traders.

CASP

Crypto & More

Crypto-asset service providers, casinos, and other designated businesses added as the Act evolves.

What's expected of you

Eleven duties, in short

FICA turns "know your customer" into a documented, provable, ongoing discipline. Here's the whole obligation set: the things an FIC inspector expects to see you doing, and evidencing.

Register with the FIC
Enrol as an accountable institution within the grace period.
Maintain an RMCP
A living Risk Management & Compliance Programme tailored to your business.
Appoint a Compliance Officer
A competent, senior employee: this role cannot be outsourced.
Customer due diligence
Identify and verify every client and anyone acting for them.
Establish beneficial ownership
Find the real natural persons behind companies and trusts.
Screen sanctions & PEPs
Check every client against sanctions lists and for political exposure.
Keep records for 5 years
Identity, transactions, correspondence and every report filed.
Report to the FIC
Suspicious transactions, cash ≥ R49,999.99, and sanctions matches.
Monitor continuously
Watch transactions against each client's profile and risk rating.
Train your staff
Induct and refresh every employee on FICA and your RMCP.
File your annual return
Submit the Risk & Compliance Return (RCR) via goAML.

The work, in practice

What compliance looks like on a Tuesday

FICA isn't a once-a-year filing: it's a rhythm. These are the tasks that keep a business genuinely compliant and inspection-ready, split into what happens every day and what happens every month.

EVIDENCE OF WORK DONE

Compliance Register

// EVERY BUSINESS DAY

Daily

On new clients and live matters

Screen new clients and beneficial owners against sanctions & PEP lists before onboarding.
Verify identity and resolve beneficial ownership on new files.
Assign a risk rating and record the reasons behind it.
Monitor transactions against each client's profile; flag the unusual.
Triage alerts and log every screening, including "nothing found".
File an STR without delay when a suspicion arises.
Freeze & report a sanctions match the same day via a goAML SNMA report.SAME-DAY
File a CTR for any cash transaction of R49,999.99 or more.

// EVERY MONTH

Monthly

Across the whole client book

Review clients due for a periodic check, higher risk, more often.
Re-screen the whole book against updated sanctions lists: weekly is better.
Update client information and adjust risk classifications.
Audit the registers for gaps: an empty register is the top inspection finding.
Compliance Officer report to senior management on findings and issues.
Refresh screening sources and confirm watchlists are current.
Track training completion and schedule any refreshers due.
Prepare for annual duties: the RMCP review and the RCR filing.

// Every entry above is dated, attributed, and kept for 5 years. That record is what turns "we comply" into "we can prove it."

law, verified.

lawvero

We take FICA off your desk and turn it into a quiet, daily routine that runs in the background, so you're always ready for an inspection, never scrambling before one.

Your RMCP, Built & Maintained

Tailored to your business and kept current as the law and FIC guidance change.

Daily Screening, Done

Sanctions, PEP and adverse-media checks run on your client files each day.

A Clean Audit Trail

A per-client register that records every check, your evidence if the FIC calls.

Decisions Surfaced, Not Buried

We flag exactly what needs your Compliance Officer's sign-off, and nothing slips.

Straight with you: the law requires your Compliance Officer to be your own employee, that role can't be outsourced to anyone, including us. So lawvero doesn't pretend to be your Compliance Officer. We power and support your appointed officer: the tooling, the screening, the drafting, the registers and the daily discipline, so one person can run a compliant function without drowning in it.

Self-check

Do I need to register for FICA?

Answer a few quick questions about your business. In under a minute you'll know whether the Financial Intelligence Centre Act treats you as an "accountable institution" that must register.

Check If You Must Register

This page explains the Financial Intelligence Centre Act 38 of 2001 in general terms for information only and is not legal advice. Thresholds, directives and FIC guidance change: verify the current position, or speak to lawvero, before you act. FATF greylist status reflects South Africa's exit in October 2025.

FICA

Get FICA-ready, and stay that way

Whether you're registering for the first time or tightening a programme before an inspection, lawvero gives you a compliance function that actually runs. Let's talk about where your business stands.