If your business falls within the categories listed in Schedule 1 of FICA, registration is mandatory. We strongly encourage all clients to assess their position, seek professional advice if uncertain, register with the FIC if required and ensure compliance without delay.
A variety of businesses are classified as accountable institutions, including:
- Credit providers
- Dealers in high-value goods
- Property practitioners (estate agents and certain related roles)
- Credit providers
- High-value goods dealers (HVGD)
- The R100k threshold applies per item, not to combined smaller items;
- Only tangible goods qualify (e.g. vehicles, jewellery, equipment);
- Excludes intangible assets such as shares or investments;
- Applies to new, used, or second-hand goods.
- Property Practitioners
- Selling, leasing, or managing property on behalf of others
- Facilitating property transactions
- Collecting rental or lease-related funds
- Estate agents
- Rental agents
- Managing agents
- Bond originators and brokers
- Property developers involved in sales
- Certain homeowner associations (in specific circumstances)
A business is considered a credit provider if it supplies goods or services under a credit agreement, including those governed by the National Credit Act (NCA) or certain excluded agreements. However, businesses that only offer incidental credit (e.g. standard payment terms), are not required to register with the National Credit Regulator (NCR) and are generally not regarded as accountable institutions under FICA.
Businesses qualify as HVG dealers if they trade in physical goods valued at R100,000 or more per item and receive payment (whether in a single or linked transactions) of that value or higher:
Where credit is extended for such goods at or above the threshold, the business may be classified both as a HVGD and a credit provider, requiring dual registration with the FIC.
All persons performing estate agent-type activities must register with the FIC. While the Property Practitioners Act (2019) broadened the definition of “property practitioner”, not all such persons automatically qualify as accountable institutions.
The determining factor is whether the person performs activities such as:
This may include:
We would like to bring this very important compliance matter to your attention regarding registration with the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC).
We are required to report reportable irregularities where non-compliance with legislation is identified during engagements, for example, to IRBA when performing an audit and/or to the CIPC when performing an independent review. In addition, in terms of the NOCLAR (Non-Compliance with Laws and Regulations) requirements in terms of the Code of Professional Conduct, we are required to determine whether clients are complying with their obligations under the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA) (amongst other legislation).
We have been made aware of the fact that businesses that are required to register as accountable institutions have still not done so and that the FIC has intensified its monitoring efforts and is increasingly identifying non-compliant entities through data matching processes as well as direct enquiries to professional bodies and institutes.
Consequently, it is very important that we share this information with our clients and make you aware of the requirements as per the FICA Act as well as the importance of timely registration to avoid penalties and regulatory action. Should you have any questions regarding whether your business qualifies as an accountable institution or not, feel free to contact our Legal Department at lorraine@fhbc.co.za or elezia@fhbc.co.za.