South Africa’s biggest bank by customers, Capitec, has been hit with a R56 million administrative penalty due to non-compliance with certain provisions of the Finance Intelligence Centre Act (FICA).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The South African Reserve Bank (SARB) Prudential Authority (PA) imposed administrative sanctions on Capitec following inspections of the bank in 2021 and 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 2021 inspection focused on the retail bank segment, and the 2022 inspection focused on Capitec Bank’s business banking segment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The fines are due to Capitec’s failure to comply with certain provisions of the FIC Act. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The sanctions consist of seven cautions, one reprimand and a financial penalty totalling R56.25 million, of which R10.5 million is conditionally suspended for a period of 36 months as from 30 July 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The SARB said that Capitec cooperated with the PA and has undertaken the necessary remedial action to address the identified compliance deficiencies and control weaknesses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the SARB, the contraventions include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Capitec failed to adequately conduct customer due diligence, enhanced due diligence and ongoing due diligence in respect of the sampled client files. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Aspects of non-compliance inter alia included deficiencies concerning the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n “The PA imposed a caution not to repeat the conduct which led to the non-compliance and a financial penalty of R20 million, of which R5 million is conditionally suspended for a period of 36 months for the retail segment, and a financial penalty of R15 million, of which R2 million is conditionally suspended for a period of 36 months for the business bank segment,” it said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Capitec failed to inter alia ensure the timeous reporting of cash threshold reports (CTRs) to the FIC.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The PA imposed a caution not to repeat the conduct which led to the non-compliance and a financial penalty of R2 million, of which R1 million is conditionally suspended for a period of 36 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Capitec failed to timeously report Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) and\/or Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) to the FIC.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The PA imposed a caution not to repeat the conduct which led to the non-compliance and a financial penalty of R5 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Capitec failed to attend to Automated Transaction Monitoring System alerts within the required 48-hour period.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The PA imposed a caution not to repeat the conduct which led to the non-compliance and a financial penalty of R3 million.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Finally, Capitec failed to:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The PA imposed a caution not to repeat the conduct which led to the non-compliance, a reprimand and a financial penalty of R8 million, of which R2 million is conditionally suspended for a period of 36 months for the retail segment, and a financial penalty of R3.25 million, of which R500 000 is conditionally suspended for a period of 36 months for the business bank segment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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