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VII. International co-operation to address money laundering based
on existing and relevant united nations and other
instruments
The goal of the Egmont Group is to provide a forum for
Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) to improve support to their
respective national anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist
financing programmes.
A. Introduction
105. The nature of organised crime, in particular,
transnational organised crime is such that swift
international cooperation is required to enable
countries to successfully prosecute alleged offenders.
B. Existing standards to prevent and address
money laundering, including international
norms, and domestic legal and regulatory
frameworks
106. South Africa became a member of the Financial
Action Task Force (FATF) in June 2003. South
Africa is compliant with the FATF’s 40 recommendations
on combating money laundering and
its nine special recommendations on combating
terror financing. South Africa is also a member
of the Eastern and Southern African Anti-Money
Laundering Group (ESAAMLG) as from August
2002.
107. The South African Financial Intelligence Centre
(FIC) also became a member of the Egmont
Group of Financial Intelligence Units in 2003.
The centre, as a member of the Egmont Group,
has access to the Egmont secure web and has
adopted the Egmont principles of exchange of
information. It has signed memoranda of understanding
to facilitate the exchange of information
with various Egmont member FlUs. Further, the
centre has regularly concluded memoranda of
understanding with countries that may have FIUs
or state institutions that perform a similar function
to an FIU but are not Egmont members. Between
2007 and 2009 the Financial Intelligence Centre
responded to more than 300 requests for information
from foreign jurisdictions.
108. South Africa has statutorily criminalised money
laundering in the Prevention of Organised Crime
Act, 1998 (POCA) which came into effect on
21 January 1999. Money laundering has been
criminalised in three separate provisions of POCA,
which cover the conversion or transfer, concealment
or disguise, possession, acquisition of property
in a manner that is largely consistent with the
Vienna Convention and the Palermo Convention.
The penalties for money laundering in POCA are
a fine not exceeding ZAR 100 million or imprisonment
for a period not exceeding 30 years.
23 Country Report