The Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) recently had several queries from the media about whether it had acted lawfully in providing certain information to the Office of the Public Protector.
“The FIC generally does not comment on the assistance it provides to specific institutions which, by law, it is obliged to assist. Whilst the FIC also does not usually address issues through the media, it has a duty to correct inaccurate reporting and misinterpretation of its mandate in the public domain. These inaccuracies, if left uncorrected, can potentially harm the reputation of the FIC and create the impression that it acts pursuant to forces other than the law. The FIC wishes to state emphatically that the information provided to the Office of the Public Protector was both obtained and disseminated lawfully in terms of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FIC Act)”, the Financial Intelligence Centre shared in a media release.
FIC pointed out that its role and mandate is to assist in the identification of the proceeds of crime, in combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism. It does this by receiving regulatory reports from accountable institutions, which includes banks, on suspicious and unusual transactions, on cash transactions above the threshold of R24 999.99 and on terrorist property. The FIC responds to requests for information from legislated authorities and disseminates financial intelligence reports to them where necessary.
In terms of section 40 of the FIC Act, legislated authorities include: the National Prosecuting Authority, the Office of the Public Protector, the State Security Agency, the Intelligence Division of the National Defence Force, the South African Revenue Service, the Special Investigating Unit and the Independent Police Investigative Directorate and investigating authorities in the Republic.
Accountable institutions, as well as other businesses, that have access to clients’ transactions first hand, are in the best position to notice when those transactions are suspicious or do not make business sense. The source, contents and information contained in the regulatory reports they submit are confidential and only shared within the boundaries of the FIC Act.
The press release concludes: “The FIC is monitoring the pending litigation between the President and the Office of the Public Protector closely, and should there be a need, it shall seek permission to intervene solely for the purposes of clarifying its mandate and to assist the Court to ensure that there is no misleading of the Court.”
In view of the President’s response that more information was provided than what was requested by the PP, we are equally keen to see what happens in this case.
Click here to read the FIC’s media release.
