CompliNEWS | Financial Service Intelligence Watch
Department of Justice warns trustees of harsher penalties for non-compliance with amended Trust Property Control Act
The Department of Justice has, in a statement, warned that trustees found guilty of not complying with the provisions of the amended Trust Property Control Act 1988 will face harsher punishment, writes Wyndham Hartley for CompliNEWS.
The implementation of the amendments to the Trust Property Control Act, 1988 came into effect on 1 April 2023. The Amendment Act seeks to address the shortcomings in beneficial ownership transparency in SA’s regulatory framework.
‘SA as a member of Financial Action Task Force is obliged to ensure that its regulatory environment is geared towards international standards in anti-money laundering and combating financing of terrorism.’
‘Any trustee who does not comply with the Amendment Act will face harsher punishment if they are found guilty in a court of law. According to the Amendment Act, a trustee commits an offence if they fail to disclose to an accountable institution that they engage with in the capacity of a trustee, that the relevant transaction or business relationship relates to trust property.’
‘The trustee also commits an offence if they fail to record the details of accountable institution prescribed in regulation 3B; if they fail to establish and record the beneficial ownership information of a trust prescribed in regulation 3C and when they fail to keep an up to date record of the beneficial ownership information prescribed in regulation 3C or fails to lodge a register of the beneficial ownership information prescribed in regulation 3C with the Master of the High Court.’
‘A trustee who is convicted of any of the offences referred to above will be liable to a fine of up to R10 million or imprisonment for a period of up to five years or to both fine and imprisonment.’