Training

Money laundering can be defined as the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities. It can be used in activities such as corruption and is usually a key operation of organised crime. It causes significant damage to the South African economy - and that of the world as a whole. The South African government is a signatory to the UN Convention against Trans-National Organised Crime.

South Africa is susceptible to the pressures of money laundering and has implemented a range of effective money laundering legislation in recent years, including the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (POCA) in 1998 and the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA) in 2001. POCA dealt with substantive money-laundering offences while FICA provided the necessary administrative framework for regulating money laundering. FICA was amended in 2005 to include the combating of financing terrorism by the Protection of Constitutional Democracy against Terrorist and Related Activities Act (POCDATARA, 2004). This legislation provides the primary anti-money-laundering (AML) legislation in South Africa.

Why anti-money laundering ?

The current concern for South Africa is that the legislation is seen as a mere smokescreen - even though the AML framework complies with international requirements. Criminals use schemes that disguise illegitimate funds as surcharges on otherwise lawful commercial transactions or conceal criminal profits in legal payments to recipients.

In order to mitigate risk, BDO’s experts aim to understand money launderers’ target markets, increase awareness among financial and non-financial institutions and assist our clients in complying with AML legislation. We can also ensure that businesses accurately identify the relevant processes in their organisations and train their compliance officers.

Our services include covering the seven primary compliance obligations, namely:

Compliance officer
Registration with the FIC
Risk and compliance programme (who/what/when/where/why)
Customer due diligence
Record keeping
Training
Reporting