- The Financial Intelligence Centre may be granted the authority to conduct lifestyle audits and to access more information from public entities and municipalities.
- Nonprofit organisations could face administrative penalties of up to R1 million or a term of up to 5 years' imprisonment for certain offences.
- Companies that do not comply with beneficial ownership reporting rules could be deregistered and fined significantly.
South Africa is moving to strengthen its anti-money laundering and terrorism-financing framework through sweeping legislative amendments that could expand the powers of regulators, tighten oversight of nonprofit organisations and impose harsher consequences on companies that fail to comply with transparency requirements.
The General Laws (Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorism Financing) Amendment Bill, 2026, was introduced in Parliament by the Minister of Finance as part of the country’s efforts to address shortcomings identified during assessments by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the international body responsible for combating money laundering and terrorism financing.
The memorandum accompanying the Bill says, "The Republic needs to address the outstanding deficiencies that were identified during the FATF enhanced follow-up process as well as the grey listing process of the FATF."
The government says the proposed amendments are necessary to improve South Africa’s anti-money laundering and combating terrorism financing regime ahead of the country’s next FATF mutual evaluation, which is expected to be completed in 2027.
Financial Intelligence Centre set for expanded powers
Among the most significant proposals are amendments to the Financial Intelligence Centre Act that would expand the powers and responsibilities of the Financial Intelligence Centre.
The Bill introduces a legal definition of a lifestyle audit and would empower the Centre to conduct lifestyle audits as part of its functions. The proposed definition describes a lifestyle audit as an assessment aimed at determining whether a person’s standard of living is consistent with income derived from legitimate sources.
The Financial Intelligence Centre would also be allowed to request information from public entities and municipalities, access databases held by those institutions and share information more broadly with other government bodies. The Public Procurement Office and the Border Management Authority would be added to the list of entities that may receive information from the Centre for law enforcement and regulatory purposes.
The Bill further proposes extending record-keeping obligations for accountable institutions from five years to seven years. The government argues that longer retention periods will assist authorities investigating suspicious transactions and other financial crimes.
The memorandum says the longer retention period is intended to ensure authorities have access to records "for a longer period of time" and improve their ability to conduct investigations and reviews into compliance failures.
Stronger oversight of nonprofit organisations
The Bill also proposes substantial changes to the Nonprofit Organisations Act. The directorate responsible for nonprofit organisations would gain expanded powers to monitor organisations and enforce compliance with legal obligations. Directors would be empowered to issue compliance notices and impose administrative sanctions where organisations fail to meet statutory requirements.
The legislation would also allow organisations to challenge administrative sanctions before an Arbitration Tribunal, which would be able to confirm, modify or set aside penalties imposed by the director.
In addition, penalties for offences under the Nonprofit Organisations Act would increase significantly. A person convicted of certain offences could face a fine of up to R1 million, imprisonment for up to five years, or both.
Companies face tougher compliance requirements
The Companies Act would also be amended to strengthen beneficial ownership reporting and transparency obligations.
The Bill would require obliged entities to report material discrepancies between beneficial ownership information they possess and information recorded on the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission's beneficial ownership register.
Companies that fail to submit securities registers or beneficial interest registers for two consecutive years could face deregistration.
The commission would also be empowered to impose administrative fines directly for certain compliance failures. Under the proposed amendments, administrative fines could reach the greater of 10 percent of a company’s turnover during the period of noncompliance or an amount prescribed by regulation. The minimum maximum amount that may be prescribed by regulation would increase from R1 million to R10 million.
People and companies subjected to administrative fines would have the right to approach the Companies Tribunal to seek a review of those penalties.
Technology and emerging risks under scrutiny
The Bill places a stronger emphasis on emerging technologies and new financial products. Accountable institutions would be required to identify, assess and manage risks associated with new products, delivery mechanisms and developing technologies that could facilitate money laundering, terrorism financing or proliferation financing activities.
The memorandum says these provisions are intended to ensure regulators can keep pace with innovation in the financial sector and respond to risks arising from new technologies and financial products.
The government says the amendments will help ensure that regulation remains effective as financial products and services continue to evolve.
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