Capitec and Ninety One receive R34 million in FIC Act penalties

The Prudential Authority has imposed financial penalties totalling R34 million on Capitec Bank and Ninety One Assurance Limited for failures to comply with parts of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act.

Capitec received a R28 million penalty, of which R5.5 million is conditionally suspended for 36 months. The sanctions followed a 2023 inspection and also included five cautions not to repeat the conduct.

The authority said the bank's failures involved customer due diligence, enhanced and ongoing due diligence, employee training and elements of its risk management and compliance programme. Capitec cooperated with the regulator to address the deficiencies and control weaknesses.

Ninety One received a R6 million penalty, with R2.5 million conditionally suspended for 36 months, as well as two cautions and two reprimands. The regulator said the insurer had not adequately conducted enhanced due diligence on some sampled client files and identified shortcomings in its risk management and compliance programme.

Ninety One cooperated with the authority and indicated that it had taken the required remedial action.

The Prudential Authority, which operates within the South African Reserve Bank, supervises accountable institutions and enforces compliance with the FIC Act. The regulator announced both sets of sanctions on Friday.