Accountable institutions must comply with the Financial Centre Intelligence Act or they could face heavy penalties. Legal practitioners and Estate agents are identified by the FIC centre as Accountable institutions due to the increased risk of money laundering for these businesses. The provision of conveyancing services greatly increases this risk.

The Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA) provides for specific requirements that all accountable institutions have to follow in order to ensure they know their clients in order to mitigate the risk of money laundering. It also places a legal obligation on all employees to undergo training on the Act in order to be able to report money laundering transactions. Should non-compliance occur, severe consequences will follow.

Make sure your employees understand their responsibilities and the process to follow to be able to comply with the Act and identify and report suspicious acts or transactions.

• Definition of money laundering
• How does money laundering effect Property Practitioners
• What constitutes a money laundering offence i.r.o. POCA
• Outline of FICA sections
• Duties of accountable institutions
• Customer due diligence
• Reporting to the FIC and sharing information
• Screening of clients
• Compliance officer
• Enforcement
• Non-compliance and penalties