The Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) has issued a directive that requires all accountable institutions to screen prospective and current employees, as well as to check whether prospective and current employees have been sanctioned by the United Nations.
Directive 8 was published in the Government Gazette on 31 March, and it came into effect on that date.
In terms of the directive, accountable institutions periodically must screen current and prospective employees for competence and integrity, in a risk-based manner, to identify, assess, monitor, mitigate and manage the risk of money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing.
An accountable institution must scrutinise information concerning its prospective and current employees upon being notified by the director of the FIC under section 26A(3) of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (Fica), to determine whether any such person is mentioned in the notice.
Section 26A refers to the financial sanctions that members of the UN must impose on persons and entities upon the adoption of a resolution by the UN Security Council. The Minister of Finance is required to announce the adoption of the resolution, whereafter the director of the FIC must give notice of the persons and entities identified by the Security Council.
An accountable institution must provide for, and record, how it will screen employees for competence and integrity and how it will scrutinise employee information against the targeted financial sanctions lists, the directive says.
The records relating to both the manner and outcomes of the screening and scrutinising of employee information must, on request, be made available to the FIC or a supervisory body.
The FIC has issued Public Compliance Communication 55 to provide guidance to accountable institutions on how to apply Directive 8.
Click here to download the directive.
Click here to download PCC 55.
Help is at hand
Accountable institutions can find it daunting to understand all their Fica obligations, let alone know how they must go about complying with them.
Moonstone Compliance offers compliance, consulting, and training options for accountable institutions of all types and sizes to help them implement anti-money laundering procedures and meet the requirements of Fica.
Moonstone Compliance will explain the complex regulations and offer practical recommendations tailored to your business.
We provide a wide range of services, from providing documentation to implementing a full compliance framework. You can select a combination of services and have them customised according to your needs.
Click here to read more about Moonstone Compliance’s suite of Fica services or send us an online enquiry.
