CORRUPTION NEWS

A register for beneficial owners: new obligations for shareholders

By Eric JordaanFirst published on Moneyweb Following South Africa’s greylisting in February – and the recommendations made by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) – the General Laws Amendment Act (Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorism Financing) places new obligations on companies to register prescribed information regarding beneficial ownership. Of the eight areas of strategic deficiencies Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Beneficial ownership transparency in Africa slowly gaining ground

A report released in mid-March 2023 by the Tax Justice Network (TJN) shows a slow but steady implementation of beneficial ownership transparency (BOT) regulations across the African continent. Titled Beneficial Ownership Transparency in Africa in 2022, the report reveals the state of play of the introduction of laws addressing the lack of BOT, and examines Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Fact sheet on South Africa’s FATF greylisting

South Africa’s national treasury has released a useful fact sheet on the background to and implications of the country’s recent greylisting by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Titled What does FATF greylisting mean for a country?, the six-page document explains the role of the FATF and the mutual evaluations all FATF members are required Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Early 2023 commencement for balance of General Laws amendment act

The final part of the General Laws (Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorism Financing) Amendment Act is due to commence in the early months of 2023. The General Laws (AML/CTF) bill proposed a sweeping range of integrated reforms to five pieces of legislation which regulated vastly different areas of concern – trusts; non-profit organisations; companies; and Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Weakened law-making system leads to inadequate legislation

Image: Wikimedia Commons, used under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license South Africa’s law-making regime is another casualty of the corruption and mismanagement that was prevalent during the state capture years, writes Caroline James, advocacy co-ordinator at amaBhungane. Here she describes how amaBhungane and Corruption Watch had to rush to get their joint submission Read more >

OPINIONS

Urgent need for bill to clarify laws around fake company fronting

By Sanan MirzoyevFirst published on Business Day In February 2023, South Africa will almost certainly be making an unwelcome appearance on the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) roster of greylisted countries — unless “we perform a few miracles”. These were the words of National Treasury’s Ismail Momoniat when he presented a grim account before Parliament Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

CW and AmaB submit on anti-money laundering bill, express concerns

In a comprehensive joint submission to Parliament’s Standing Committee on Finance today, non-profit organisations Corruption Watch and AmaBhungane expressed concern that the haste with which the General Laws (Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorism Financing) Amendment Bill was developed may have compromised its effectiveness. The bill was prepared in a matter of months after the Financial Read more >

CORRUPTION NEWS

Party funding act, barely a year old, already under threat

By Kwazi Dlamini Free reign when it comes to political party funding threatens our hard-fought-for democracy in every aspect. While the new Political Party Funding Act (PPFA), promulgated on 1 April 2021, seeks to address the issue of private donors having unfettered power in funding political parties, at the same time there should be alternate Read more >