South Africa Financial Sector Conduct Authority fines DSL Solutions and Opes Trust for Financial Intelligence Centre Act anti-money laundering and sanctions screening breaches

The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) imposed administrative sanctions on DSL Solutions (Pty) Ltd (FSP 50891) and Opes Trust (FSP 45423) after inspections found failures to comply with multiple obligations under the Financial Intelligence Centre Act, 2001 (FIC Act). The measures include directives to remediate deficiencies, a ZAR 200,000 fine and caution for DSL, and a ZAR 500,000 fine for Opes, with ZAR 250,000 conditionally suspended for two years. Inspections conducted under section 45B of the FIC Act identified shortcomings in both firms’ Risk Management and Compliance Programmes (sections 42(1) and (2)), including inadequate coverage of FIC Act requirements and an inability to demonstrate effective implementation. Customer due diligence breaches (sections 20A to 21H) included failures to identify and verify clients and conduct ongoing due diligence, with DSL also failing to establish source of funds and Opes additionally failing to gather information on the nature of business relationships and determine whether certain clients were politically exposed persons. Both firms also failed to screen clients against United Nations Security Council targeted financial sanctions lists as required (section 28A read with section 26B), while Opes further breached suspicious and unusual transaction reporting requirements (section 29(1)) by submitting an incomplete report under regulation 23A and not remediating a rejected submission; both were also found to lack effective compliance functions required by section 42A(2). Both providers have been directed to address the identified control gaps, and the conditional suspension on part of Opes’s fine applies for a two-year period.