The Draft General Laws Amendment Bill 2025
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In February 2023, South Africa was placed on the FATF grey list for weaknesses in its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws. This increased international pressure, raised compliance risks, and alerted investors that stronger systems were needed. After extensive reforms, South Africa was removed from the grey list in October 2025, a major milestone. But to keep improving and avoid future risk, government has introduced the Draft General Laws (Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorism Financing) Amendment Bill, 2025.
🚨 What’s this bill all about?
This Bill updates several key Acts to close loopholes, improve transparency, and strengthen enforcement. If you work in finance, accounting, compliance, or law. This summary explains the key updates, what they mean for you, and where the changes are found in law.
🔑 Key Changes Proposed
1. Nonprofit Organisations Act, Act 71 of 1997
The NPO Directorate can now monitor and enforce compliance directly (Section 5).
The NPO Directorate can issue administrative sanctions and refer serious breaches to the police (Section 20).
NPOs can appeal these sanctions via an Arbitration Tribunal (Section 14).
Offenders face up to R1 million in fines or 5 years in prison (Section 30).
2. Financial Intelligence Centre Act, Act 38 of 2001 (FIC Act)
Lifestyle audits are now official: FIC can assess if someone’s lifestyle matches their income (Sections 1, 3, 4).
FIC can request info from municipalities and public entities (Section 5).
Record-keeping period extended from 5 to 7 years (Section 23).
The FIC must be alerted to:
Suspicious links to UN-sanctioned persons or entities (Sections 26A, 28A).
Cash transfers across borders (Section 30).
Financial institutions can apply for access to frozen accounts for extraordinary expenses and accrue interest on frozen accounts if funds were held before UN listing (Section 26C).
Accountable institutions (e.g. banks, lawyers, accountants) must:
Share full details of client relationships, including start/end dates (Section 27).
Grant FIC access to client files and allow inspections for lifestyle audits (Section 27A).
Report if they manage property linked to sanctioned individuals or terrorist entities (Section 28A).
Courts can now issue monitoring orders through any local magistrate or judge, allowing the FIC to track transactions tied to suspicious individuals or accounts; these orders can be extended in 3-month periods if needed (Section 35).
Individuals and institutions that report suspicious activity or cooperate with the FIC in good faith are now protected from legal action, including civil or criminal claims (Section 38).
FIC can now share info with the Public Procurement Office and Border Management Authority (Sections 40, 1).
New tech like crypto or digital wallets must be assessed for risks (Section 42).
Non-compliance results in penalties, administrative action or criminal charges (Sections 46, 51A, 59).
3. Companies Act, 2008
The CIPC can now deregister companies that fail to file their securities or beneficial ownership registers for 2 years (Section 82).
Failure to comply with a compliance notice can trigger administrative fines of up to R10 million or 10% of turnover (Sections 171, 175).
Companies can appeal fines to the Companies Tribunal (new Section 175A).
4. Financial Sector Regulation Act, 2017
Expanded definitions now cover modern and tech-driven financial services (Sections 2 & 3).
Regulators can require extra licensing, even if an institution is already licensed elsewhere (Sections 111, 113).
Regulators now have power to demand info from significant or beneficial owners (Section 131).
They can launch investigations if they suspect financial laws are being or will be broken (Section 135).
Certain complex financial contracts are excluded from some enforcement clauses (Section 166S).
💼 What This Means for You
If you're an accountant, compliance officer, or business owner, this Bill could affect how you operate:
Are you an accountable institution? You may have new reporting obligations.
If you work with NPOs or private companies, expect stricter enforcement.
Non-compliance can mean R10 million+ fines, jail time, or deregistration.
The Next Steps
The Draft Bill is currently open for public comment and parliamentary review. Once stakeholder input has been considered, the Bill will proceed through the legislative process in the National Assembly, followed by final approval from the National Council of Provinces (NCOP). If passed, it will be signed into law by the President and come into effect on a date announced in the Government Gazette. Businesses, NPOs, and accountable institutions are encouraged to prepare now, as implementation could begin soon after formal adoption.
