Johannesburg – The Prudential Bureau (PA) has imposed administrative sanctions on ABSA Bank Limited (ABSA) as a result of violating certain provisions of the FIC Act.
The move follows an inspection conducted by ABSA for Section 45B of the 2022 FIC Act.
PAs are required to supervise and enforce compliance by accountable agencies in the provisions of Financial Intelligence Center Act 38 (FIC Act) of 2001 or any order, decision or directive made under the terms of that.
“The administrative sanctions imposed on ABSA are due to failure to comply with certain provisions of the FIC Act and consist of two precautions that will not repeat violations, responsibilities and actions that have led to a total of R10 million cases,” the Reserve Bank of South Africa (SARB) said in a statement released on Friday (April 25, 2025).
Administrative sanctions imposed on the ABSA are attributable to the following non-compliance:
The ABSA was unable to fully comply with sections 21(1) and 21A of the FIC Act. This is because customer due diligence and due diligence enhancements could not be properly implemented with regard to sampled client files.
I. Regarding state-owned enterprises, client due diligence cannot be carried out properly against client files of four foreign prominent civil servants (FPPOs) and two politically exposed persons (PEPs). and ii. Failure to properly carry out due diligence properly on the three well-known influential people (DPIPS) client files and five FFPO client files.
The PA took caution to avoid repeating any acts that led to non-compliance, responsibilities and financial punishment of R7 million.
The ABSA was not compliant with the 2019 FIC Act Directive 5.
1. At least 8 559 reported Automatic Transaction Monitoring System (ATM) alerts did not participate in time within 48 hours. 2. Four of the ATMS alerts that could not be reported within 48 hours were not present. 3. Two non-reportable suspicious transaction reporting/suspecting activity report alerts have been closed for more than the 15-day reporting period, as provided in Rule 24(3) of the FIC Act Rules.
“The PA has taken care not to repeat any actions that led to non-compliance and financial penalties,” the statement said.
“The PA has confirmed that ABSA is working with the PA and has implemented the necessary corrective actions to address the identified compliance flaws and control weaknesses.”
