If Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba fails to postpone implementation of the Financial Intelligence Centre Amendment (Fica) Bill – President Jacob Zuma signed the Bill into law on Saturday – the Progressive Professionals Forum (PPF) will challenge the legislation in the Constitutional Court on the grounds that it gives undue powers to the banking sector, notes Legalbrief. PPF spokesperson Luther Lebelo reportedly told News24 that the organisation supports the Bill’s aim to combat crime, but wants to ensure the rights of its members are not discarded.

He said the organisation will write to the Finance Minister to postpone the implementation of the Act and, if unsuccessful, take the matter to the Constitutional Court. ‘We have a number of concerns with the Bill. One is that it abolishes the current council, the counter money laundering council on which several parties, including the Reserve Bank, sits. Inspectors will now be accountable to the banks,’ Lebelo said. ‘It gives banks the power to make the determination on suspicious transactions. It means that banks can freeze bank accounts where they see fit and hence take away the objectivity of the previous council.’ Lebelo said the legislation also creates a new category called prominent influential person whose bank accounts can be frozen for three months. 'That person has no recourse to turn over that decision. If you are running a small business your business now runs at risk,’ Lebelo said.

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SA risked being kicked out of the global fraud monitor, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), if the Fica Bill was not signed by June, notes a Business Day report. Zuma has had almost two months to sign the Bill, which was re-adopted by Parliament at the end of February. In April, the Council for the Advancement of the SA Constitution (Casac) threatened to approach the Constitutional Court if he did not sign it immediately. Casac’s executive secretary, Lawson Naidoo, said the next step was gazetting the Bill and then the actual implementation of it. ‘Obviously, the FATF meeting in June is the next point we need to look at and we will need to be able to report at the meeting that not only has the Bill been signed but that steps are being taken to ensure speedy implementation of the key parts of the Bill,’ he said. The DA raised concerns about the possibility of Gigaba delaying implementation of the legislation and called for clear time frames. Gigaba’s spokesperson, Mayihlome Tshwete, however, said the Minister had no intention of delaying implementation. ‘The parliamentary process was clearly spelt out and our team is already beginning to work on that. It has started consultations and when they were in Parliament our deputy DG … gave a very clear pathway and road map for the way forward on the Fica Bill and one of those is drawing up regulations,’ he is quoted as saying.

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DA finance spokesperson David Maynier warned that Zuma and his most important ‘clients’ – the Guptas – are going to ‘feel the heat’ as their business relationships, sources of wealth and sources of funds are subjected to on-going monitoring by financial institutions. However‚ according to a News24 report, he said there could still be significant delays in implementing the Bill because the legislation only actually commences on a date to be determined by the Minister and published in the Government Gazette. He said the Financial Intelligence Centre must still produce an official list of ‘domestic prominent influential persons’ and of family members and known close associates. ‘This will be a massive task because the list of 'domestic prominent influential persons' includes – for example – senior executives, as well as family members and close associates of senior executives, of all companies supplying goods and services above a threshold amount, which must be determined by the Minister and published in the Government Gazette.’ Maynier said that there were also doubts over whether the Financial Intelligence Centre – which only has a budget of R289m for 2017/18 – will have the resources to effectively implement the Act.

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Financial Intelligence Centre Amendment Bill (B 33D – 2015)

The Black Business Council (BBC) – which was initially against the legislation – has welcomed the Bill following the warrantless search amendments. BBC chairperson Sello Rasethaba urged the Treasury and law enforcement agencies to apply the law without fear or favour, notes a Sunday Tribune report. Cas Coovadia of the Banking Association of SA said despite delays in signing the Bill, they were happy it finally happened. ‘It means now that the banks in our country are up to date with international standards compliance.’ Parliament's Finance Standing Committee has also welcomed the signing of the Bill, notes a report in Business Report. Committee chair Yunus Carrim said the Bill would help the country's efforts to combat money laundering, illicit financial flows, and financing of terrorism. ‘Our country has lost over R600bn in illicit financial flows over the past 10 years. It is big businesses – not emerging black businesses – that are primarily responsible for this. It is the poor and disadvantaged who ultimately bear a disproportional burden,’ he said.

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Full report in Business Report