Tag: Sameer Kumandan

South African businesses do not need to look far for a cautionary tale. The fallout from the Steinhoff scandal continues to reveal how weak governance, inadequate scrutiny of business relationships and unchecked transactions can destroy billions in shareholder value. What began as aggressive growth ultimately became one of the country’s most expensive lessons on the cost of insufficient oversight.

Earlier in November 2025, the South African Reserve Bank announced administrative sanctions against two finance companies. Regulators imposed these sanctions after the companies failed to comply with the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FICA).

After demonstrating significant progress in strengthening the effectiveness of its anti-money-laundering (AML) and counter-financing of terrorism (CFT) measures, South Africa was recently removed from the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) grey list.

With South Africa tightening its grip on crypto regulations, Crypto Asset Service Providers (CASPs) must act now to avoid compliance failures. As of April 30, 2025, new crypto compliance rules in form of Directive 9 will introduce stricter requirements for tracking and reporting crypto asset transactions.

The 2025 Budget Speech, delivered on 12 March 2025, made it clear that financial crime enforcement and compliance are priorities. The government has allocated increased funding for forensic investigations, regulatory oversight and tax compliance monitoring

FICA Compliance and Penalties are becoming critical considerations for South African businesses, as non-compliance can lead to severe financial and reputational consequences.

The South African retail industry operates in a complex and challenging environment. Economic uncertainty, rising costs, and unpredictable consumer demands have created conditions in which retailers must constantly adapt to survive.

South Africa possesses ore reserves amounting to a value of more than US$2.5 trillion, with 16 commodities ranked in the top ten internationally. In such an important and high-value sector of the economy, it’s easy to see why the mining industry is a frequent target for malfeasance of all kinds – from deceptive suppliers to tender fraud.