Capitec fined R28m and Ninety One Assurance R6m over Fica gaps

Moneyweb reports that Capitec Bank and Ninety One Assurance Limited have been fined for failing to comply with the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (Fica), in administrative actions detailed in a statement released on Friday evening.

The penalties follow inspections carried out in 2023 by the Prudential Authority, the arm of the South African Reserve Bank that supervises banks, insurers and other authorised financial institutions. Both firms paid without appealing and say they have fixed what was identified.

Capitec’s R28 million penalty

Capitec was fined R28 million, of which R5,5 million is suspended for 36 months.

The Prudential Authority found that the bank could not show it had written down and formally approved end-to-end procedures for reporting or identifying funds or assets suspected of being connected to terrorism or terrorist financing before it was notified of the inspection. It also failed to provide sufficient Fica training to staff, and did not properly verify clients in the files sampled, or establish whether those clients were acting on behalf of other people. Capitec’s business bank put an anti-money laundering investigation manual into use without management approval.

Capitec chief risk officer Ismail Moola said the sanction concerns administrative gaps in certain compliance processes, including aspects of client due diligence, training and regulatory reporting, over the period 2019 to 2023.

These findings do not relate to any instances of money laundering, illicit financial activity, fraud, scams or financial loss at Capitec.

Moola said the bank acknowledges the role of the Prudential Authority and broader regulators in upholding Fica standards and supporting South Africa’s commitments under the Financial Action Task Force. Capitec has been engaging with the regulator and is addressing all the findings, he said.

Ninety One Assurance’s R6 million penalty

Ninety One Assurance Limited, a subsidiary of asset manager Ninety One, was fined R6 million, of which R2,5 million is suspended for three years, subject to continued compliance.

The Prudential Authority found the firm failed to create and maintain a risk management programme that would allow it to properly identify, evaluate, monitor and reduce risks related to politically exposed persons, who carry higher risk, or their businesses. It also failed to conduct adequate enhanced due diligence on some of the client files sampled.

Ninety One Assurance said the fine relates to technical shortcomings in its risk management and compliance programme and its client due diligence processes.

There has been no suggestion or accusation of money laundering, client misconduct or financial harm.

The firm said it accepted the Prudential Authority’s findings, paid the penalty in full and did not appeal.

Why the regulator is watching

The fines land in a compliance system that has been under international scrutiny. South Africa was placed on the Financial Action Task Force grey list in February 2023, partly because of gaps in the country’s anti-money laundering and terror financing framework. An action plan addressing weaknesses in financial reporting and anti-money laundering enforcement led to the country’s removal from the grey list in October 2025.

That is the context a reader should hold on to. The grey listing carried a real cost for ordinary South Africans, because it thickened the paperwork on cross-border payments and made the country look like a harder place to move money through. Getting off the list in October 2025 was a result the state and the financial sector worked for together, and the Prudential Authority’s inspection programme is part of how that result is being held in place.

For customers, the practical question is what changes at the counter. Both banks say the shortcomings were procedural, and neither has reported any loss to clients. The suspended portions of both penalties mean the regulator has kept part of the money in reserve: if the firms do not keep to the terms, the remainder falls due. The Prudential Authority has not said when that assessment will be made.

Source: Moneyweb. Read the original item.