Accountable Institution - Definition

The term “accountable institution” is defined as a person or organisation referred to in Schedule 1 of the FIC Act that carries out business of any entity listed.

Accountable Institutions Include the Following Organisations:

A practitioner who practices as defined in section 1 of the Attorneys Act (53 of 1979).
A board of executors or a trust company or any other person that invests, keeps in safe custody, controls or administers trust property within the meaning of the Trust Property Control Act (57 of 1988).
An estate agent as defined in the Estate Agency Affairs Act (112 of 1976).
An authorised user of an exchange as defined in the Securities Service Act (36 of 2004).
A manager registered in terms of the Collective Investment Schemes Control Act (45 of 2002), but excludes managers who only conduct business in Part VI of the Collective Investment Schemes Control Act (45 of 2002).
A person who carries on the ‘business of a bank’ as defined in the Banks Act (94 of 1990).
A mutual bank as defined in the Mutual Banks Act (124 of 1993).
A person who carries on a ‘long-term insurance business’ as defined in the Long-Term Insurance Act (52 of 1998).
A person who carries on the business of making available a gambling activity as contemplated in section 3 of the National Gambling Act (7 of 2004) in respect of which a license is required to be issued by the National Gambling Board or a provincial licensing authority.
A person who carries on the business of dealing in foreign exchange.
A person who carries on the business of lending money against the security of securities.
A person who carries on the business of a financial services provider requiring authorisation in terms of the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act (37 of 2002), to provide advice and intermediary services in respect of the investment of any financial product (but excluding a short term insurance contract or policy referred to in the Short-term Insurance Act (53 of 1998) and a health service benefit provided by a medical scheme as defined in section 1(1) of the Medical Schemes Act (131 of 1998).
A person who issues, sells or redeems travellers’ cheques, money orders or similar instruments.
The Postbank referred to in section 51 of the Postal Services Act (124 of 1998).
The Ithala Development Finance Corporation Limited.
A person who carries on the business of a money remitter.

In addition to the accountable institutions, the Financial Intelligence Centre Act affects all clients/consumers entering into either a single transaction or a business relationship with an accountable institution.

Clients/Consumers include:

Natural Persons
Natural person acting on behalf of another, or
Foreign national
Close corporation
South African company
Foreign company
Legal Persons
Partnerships
Trusts