South Africa's Prudential Authority (PA) has published details of administrative sanctions imposed on The Standard Bank of South Africa Limited (SBSA) for customer due diligence, recordkeeping and staff training failures under the Financial Intelligence Centre Act 38 of 2001. The sanctions comprise a ZAR 17 million penalty, including ZAR 5 million conditionally suspended for 36 months from May 19, 2026, alongside three cautions and three reprimands.
A 2023 inspection found inadequate customer due diligence in 34% of sampled money or value transfer services (MVTS) client files, resulting in a ZAR 7 million penalty. The bank also failed to retain proof of address and/or work permits in 52% of sampled MVTS client files, attracting a separate ZAR 5 million penalty.
Training failures accounted for the remaining ZAR 5 million penalty. Among sampled MVTS employees appointed in 2021, 52% had not received anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism refresher training in 2022 and 2023. A further finding showed that 37% of sampled MVTS employees appointed in 2023 had not received induction training on these requirements. SBSA has cooperated with the PA on remedial action to address the identified deficiencies and control weaknesses.