Fica-faqs

FICA is an acronym for the Financial Intelligence Centre Act.

FICA is an act that prevents money laundering and terrorist financing. Real estate can be used as a vehicle to launder money and therefore it is necessary to put measures in place to detect, report and prevent these activities. The Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) oversees FICA.

The Act identifies certain accountable institutions that must enforce FICA and real estate is one of those institutions. This means that Chas Everitt has a duty to deploy the necessary measures to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. As an accountable institution, we are legally obliged to comply with FICA legislation. Each accountable institution must have its own Risk Management and Compliance Programme (RMCP) that stipulates how and when FICA must be done.

Yes, you will have to complete a FICA questionnaire that will be sent to you by your Chas Everitt agent.

We will ask for:

• Your full name and ID number
• Your residential address
• If you are a purchaser or tenant, your source of funds for the transaction
• Whether you are a politically exposed person or a family member/close associate of such a person and, if so, what your source of wealth is
• The name of any person that will be representing you in the transaction

• Copy of your ID document
• Proof of address, not older than 3 months
• Authorisation letter for the person who will represent you in the transaction

*For legal entities, the documents required will be different.

For sellers and landlords, FICA will be done when the mandate is signed. For purchasers and tenants, FICA will be done prior to an offer to purchase/lease agreement being signed.

Chas Everitt has to, in terms of our Risk Management and Compliance Programme, do FICA again at every renewal of a lease agreement.

Chas Everitt will not be allowed to accept your mandate or take your offer to purchase/lease agreement if you refuse to comply with FICA requirements.

Yes, the banks as well as conveyancing attorneys will also ask you for FICA documentation. Each of these institutions are accountable institutions and are required by law to do their own FICA processes.

The Financial Intelligence Centre Act imposes administrative penalties and even imprisonment (in certain cases) for accountable institutions not complying with FICA. We realise that it might be an inconvenience to be asked to complete and provide documents, but we are obliged by law to do so.

We are required to store your information for a period of 5 years in such a way that it is not accessible to other people/companies. Chas Everitt is also required to submit a report to the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) for any cash transactions exceeding R49 999.99. If we regard any transaction as irregular, we also have a duty to report it to the FIC.

In terms of Chas Everitt’s RMCP, FICA must be done at the mandate stage when the business relationship between yourself and Chas Everitt starts.

Chas Everitt is mandated by the landlord to properly quality control and screen all prospective tenants. This means we will ask you for documentation and information to assess your ability to rent the property. Furthermore, Chas Everitt as an accountable institution, is obliged to collect FICA information from you in order to present any offer to lease that you have signed to the seller.

All offers are legally binding once it is made and, once accepted by a seller, is a legally binding contract. To this end, Chas Everitt is obliged in terms of our Risk Management and Compliance Programme to do FICA before an offer to purchase can be presented to a seller.

Every accountable institution has their own Risk Management and Compliance Programme that stipulates the FICA process they must follow. The Financial Intelligence Centre Act however does not allow an accountable institution to start a business relationship with a client if FICA cannot be done. This means that you have to provide FICA documents to an estate agent before they can accept your mandate.

The Financial Intelligence Centre Act requires an accountable institution to do FICA before they start a business relationship with a client. This means that you have to provide FICA documents to an estate agent before they can accept your mandate. If you do not, the estate agent cannot accept your mandate, regardless of what type of mandate it is.

Your FICA information is safeguarded and kept on record for 5 years by the estate agencies. It is not provided to anyone else, except where may be required for the conclusion of the transaction.

Every accountable institution, like estate agents and attorneys, have their own obligation to do FICA. That is why both the estate agent and the attorneys will ask you for FICA documentation.

You will have to provide FICA documentation, at the mandate stage, to all agents to whom you give a mandate. The transferring attorneys will also ask you for FICA documentation.

It is a requirement, in terms of Chas Everitt’s Risk Management and Compliance Programme, that, for buyers and tenants, you have to indicate where the funds come from to finance the transaction. This is all part of FICA to help accountable institutions combat potential money laundering.

Yes, your bank will also ask you for FICA documentation. It is an obligation they have as an accountable institution. Each accountable institution has their own obligation and does not rely on the FICA information provided by you to another accountable institution.