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 "Eventually the announcement of the extension we have all been waiting for " - Mark |
| Bank ID deadline extended |
| iAfrica.com website |
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Posted Thu, 17 Jun 2004 Finance Minister Trevor Manuel on Thursday extended the deadline for bank clients to verify personal details beyond June 30, 2004 to September 30, 2006, after requests from 50 institutions. Manuel also announced a string of different deadlines for the verification of the details of banking, investment managers and brokerage clients, including trusts, partnerships and natural persons. The following table is a summary of the salient features to the conditions on which this extension is based:
Should the relevant institutions not verify all their clients' details, they would face the possibility of 15 years' imprisonment or a R10-million fine, Manuel said. |
| Similar article: South African Banks get data-check reprieve |
| By Nalisha Kalideen and Sapa |
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June 18, 2004 Finance Minister Trevor Manuel has extended the June 30 cut-off date for banks to verify the details of their clients. Three new deadlines have been set: December 31, May 31 next year and September 2006, depending on the risk factor of the clients involved. The extensions, announced yesterday by Manuel, came after a meeting of the Money Laundering Advisory Council, and in response to more than 50 requests for a postponement. Although the deadline has been extended, banks are urging customers not to leave the verification of their details until the last minute. The minister said that by the first cut-off date of December 31 banks would have to confirm the identities of their "highest-risk" clients. By May 31 next year banks would have had to verify details of at least half of their clients. Confirming details of lowest-risk clients had been delayed to September 30 2006. This group included those with no more than R25 000 in their accounts at any given time and who deposited not more than R5 000 or withdrew no more than R15 000 a day. Under the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (Fica) regulations, banks are obliged to report suspicious financial transactions in a bid to curb international terrorism and prevent money-laundering through SA banks. Reporting involves verifying details of about 17-million bank clients. The minister said the requirement for residential addresses to be verified would not be changed. "Mere reliance on ID numbers is clearly inadequate, partly because the issue of ID numbers itself has been the subject of dispute," he said. Standard Bank is one institution which is planning to make verification easier for customers. Jacko Maree, the bank's CEO, yesterday said customers would not need to go to branches to re-identify themselves - unless specifically asked to do so. "We are making use of various resources to verify customer records. These include databases from other institutions, such as credit bureaus." 
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