The National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Finance has announced the deadline for written submissions on the General Laws (Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorism Financing) Amendment Bill, which amends five pieces of legislation.
The deadline for written submissions is 12pm on Monday, 10 October 2022.
Submissions can be emailed to Mr Allen Wicomb at awicomb@parliament.gov.za and Ms Teboho Sepanya at tsepanya@parliament.gov.za.
Enquiries can be directed to Wicomb (021 403 3759) or Sepanya (021 403 3662).
Members of the public who want to make submissions at the public hearings on Tuesday, 11 October 2022, should specifically request this. The hearings will be conducted via Zoom.
Click here to download a copy of the Bill.
The General Laws (Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorism Financing) Amendment Bill (B18-2022) aims to amend:
- the Trust Property Control Act, 1988, to prevent the misuse of trusts for money laundering or terrorist financing, ensure that there is adequate, accurate and timely information on trusts, including information on the trustee and beneficiaries, that can be obtained or accessed in a timely fashion by the authorities, and address the deficiencies relating to trustees being required to obtain full information on beneficial ownership when they are creating trusts;
- the Nonprofit Organisations Act, 1997, to ensure that nonprofit organisations are not misused by terrorist organisations, or vulnerable to terrorist financing abuse;
- the Financial Intelligence Centre Act, 2001, to effect certain amendments to the objectives and powers of the Financial Intelligence Centre; customer due diligence requirements; to amend provisions relating to a ‘beneficial owner’; to amend provisions and Schedules relating to ‘politically exposed persons’; to amend provisions relating to the risk management and compliance programme and targeted financial sanctions; and amend provisions providing for the amendment of Schedule 2 to the Act and the Schedules.
- the Companies Act, 2008, to require that there is adequate, accurate and up-to-date information on the beneficial ownership and control of legal persons that can be obtained or accessed rapidly and efficiently by the authorities, through a register of beneficial ownership; and
- the Financial Sector Regulation Act, 2017, to enable the financial sector regulators to issue standards and directives in relation to beneficial owners of financial institutions.
The above amendments are to give effect to 14 recommendations contained in South Africa’s Mutual Evaluation Report of the Financial Action Taskforce Force (FATF) which require urgent legislative amendments.
National Treasury has, in a statement, reminded the public that the period for comment on the Anti-Money Laundering and Combatting Terrorism Financing Amendment Bill (General Laws Amendment Bill) is soon to expire, reports Wyndham Hartley for CompliNEWS. The Bill, which is vital to SA avoiding grey listing by the Financial Action Task Force, will be open for public comment until 10 October 2022. The Bill seeks to address deficiencies in at least 14 of the 20 Financial Action Task Force recommendations, as identified in the Mutual Evaluation of SA report published in October 2021. The Amendment Bill proposes to amend the following laws the Trust Property Control Act, 1988; the Nonprofit Organisations Act, 1997; the Financial Intelligence Centre Act, 2001; the Companies Act, 2008; and the Financial Sector Regulation Act, 2017.
The Parliamentary Monitoring Group has the following advice for writing a submission to a parliamentary committee, reports Moonstone Information Refinery: Ask yourself these five questions:
- Who am I writing to?
Your submission heading must clearly state the name of the committee you are addressing and the full name of the Bill.
- Who am I?
State your full name if you are appearing as an individual or the name of your organisation if you are representing a company. If you are representing an organisation, state clearly its aims and your role within the organisation. Include your contact details so that the committee can reach you (or write them on a separate cover sheet if you want to keep that information private). - What are my concerns?
This should constitute the bulk of your submission. State why the Bill is important to you, and how it will affect you or the public. This should be followed by a paragraph underlining the problems you have with the Bill and your proposed solutions or recommendations. Your submission will be judged on how convincing a case you make. Be clear, concise and logical. Remember to be constructive in your criticism. - Do I want to appear before the committee?
If your submission is deemed worthy of consideration, you can appear before the committee to give an oral presentation. To do so, you must indicate in your submission your intention to speak at the committee meeting or list the names of the person(s) to speak on your behalf. - Do I have support?
State whether you have consulted with anyone or if more people express the same position as you. This might give your submission more weight when it is being considered.