Media Statement
Trustees not complying with the provisions of the amended Trust Property Control Act to face harsher punishment
17 September 2024
The trustees who are found guilty of not complying with the provisions of the amended Trust Property Act 1988 will face harsher punishment. The implementation of the amendments to the Trust Property Control Act, 1988 came into effect on 01 April 2023.
The Amendment Act seeks to address the shortcomings in beneficial ownership transparency in South Africa’s regulatory framework. South Africa as a member of Financial Action Task Force (FATF), is obliged to ensure that its regulatory environment is geared towards international standards in anti-money laundering and combating financing of terrorism.
Any trustee who does not comply with the Amendment Act will face harsher punishment if they are found guilty in a court of law. According to the Amendment Act, a trustee commits an offence if they fail to disclose to an accountable institution that they engage with in the capacity of a trustee, that the relevant transaction or business relationship relates to trust property.
The trustee also commits an offence if they fail to record the details of accountable institution prescribed in regulation 3B; if they fail to establish and record the beneficial ownership information of a trust prescribed in regulation 3C and when they fail to keep an up to date record of the beneficial ownership information prescribed in regulation 3C or fails to lodge a register of the beneficial ownership information prescribed in regulation 3C with the Master of the High Court.
A trustee who is convicted of any of the offences referred to above will be liable to a fine of up to R10 million or imprisonment for a period of up to five years or to both fine and imprisonment.
It has been noted that there is a low level of compliance with these provisions by trustees, in particular the lodging of the beneficial ownership information with the Master of the High Court. This low level of compliance will have a significant impact on SA exiting the grey-list by the January 2025 deadline.
As such, the deadline for the filing of the beneficial ownership register with the Master of the High Court is the 15 November 2024. All trustees are nonetheless reminded that the law is already in operation and remains applicable together with the penalties for non-compliance.
The Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development made regulations that were published in Government Gazette No. 48351 on 31 March 2023 (“the Regulations”) in order to facilitate the implementation of the Amendment Act. Prior to these amendments, the Trust Property Control Act, 1988 did not provide for reporting on beneficial ownership and hence, had no prescribed penalties for non-compliance.
Enquiries:
Mr. Tsekiso Machike
Spokesperson: Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Development
078 237 3900
Issued by the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Development
