Capitec Bank and Deutsche Bank in South Africa were\u00a0been hit with a collective R15 million fine in 2015, for not having the appropriate systems in place to stop money laundering and terrorist funding.<\/p>\n
In it’s latest annual report, the South African Reserve Bank noted that in terms of the FIC Act, it\u00a0is mandated to supervise and enforce\u00a0banks\u2019 compliance with the Act.<\/p>\n
It also allows SARB\u00a0to\u00a0impose an administrative sanction on\u00a0banks\u00a0for failure to comply with the\u00a0provisions of the Act, it\u00a0said.<\/p>\n
In the case of\u00a0Capitec and Deutsche Bank, SARB\u00a0nailed the banks with a R5 million and R10 million fine, respectively, for failing to comply with the Act in 2015.<\/p>\n
Deutsche Bank was hit with a R10 million fine for failing to identify and verify customer details, as well as failing to have\u00a0controls and systems in place relating to the “detection of property associated with\u00a0terrorism and related activities”.<\/p>\n
Capitec was hit for R5 million for failing to report cash-threshold\u00a0transactions above R25,000 to\u00a0the Financial Intelligence Centre – amounts often associated with money laundering.<\/p>\n
Capitec, for its part,\u00a0 identified and resolved the FICA issues associated with the fine soon after they were identified in February 2015.<\/p>\n
“The Department conducted a routine inspection at Deutsche\u00a0Bank AG Johannesburg Branch (Deutsche Bank) during 2014, with the aim to assess whether\u00a0appropriate measures and controls were in place to ensure compliance with the relevant\u00a0provisions of the FIC Act,”\u00a0the SARB\u00a0said.<\/p>\n
“During the same period, Capitec Bank Limited (Capitec) notified the\u00a0Bank of instances of non-compliance relating to the cash-threshold reporting requirements as set\u00a0out in the FIC Act.”<\/p>\n
While the banks were fined on grounds related to\u00a0money laundering and terrorist funding, the Reserve Bank stressed that\u00a0the fines don’t mean that Deutsche Bank or Capitec actively facilitated transactions relating to money laundering and\/or the financing of terrorism activities.<\/p>\n
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