The prevalence of the money laundering crime has prompted the introduction of customer due diligence (CDD) measures. CDD measures facilitate the prevention of money laundering and promote the introduction of certain detective skills. Several international institutions champion the introduction of the detective skills in general and the performing of CDD measures in particular. These institutions acknowledge the cumbersome (administrative and financial) effects of introducing the detective skills and the performing of CDD measures. However, these institutions concedes that the aforementioned burden can be alleviated or lessened if the institutions that are responsible for performing CDD measures, i.e. Accountable Institutions (AIs), can exchange and rely on third parties’ (CDD) data. The exchange and reliance on third parties’ data must however consider the divergent threats or risks that might be associated with the data or third parties. The view regarding the exchanging and relying on third parties’ data is shared by, amongst others, the FATF and the UK. However, South Africa appears to be lagging behind in this respect. In other words, the South African FICA and FICA Regulations omit to encapsulate express and lucid provisions permitting the exchanging and relying on third parties’ data for purposes of performing CDD measures. The aforementioned omission, it is argued, creates a legal vacuum in the South African scheme of anti-money laundering. In other words, the aforesaid vacuum lives the South African AIs in a state of doubt regarding the manner and extent of exchanging and relying on third parties’ data. However, the aforesaid vacuum, this study concedes, can be rectified by introduction provisions that are line with the draft Regulation 5A and 5B that are proposed in chapter seven of this study. / Jurisprudence / LL. M.

The prevalence of the money laundering crime has prompted the introduction of customer due diligence (CDD) measures. CDD measures facilitate the prevention of money laundering and promote the introduction of certain detective skills. Several international institutions champion the introduction of the detective skills in general and the performing of CDD measures in particular. These institutions acknowledge the cumbersome (administrative and financial) effects of introducing the detective skills and the performing of CDD measures. However, these institutions concedes that the aforementioned burden can be alleviated or lessened if the institutions that are responsible for performing CDD measures, i.e. Accountable Institutions (AIs), can exchange and rely on third parties’ (CDD) data. The exchange and reliance on third parties’ data must however consider the divergent threats or risks that might be associated with the data or third parties. The view regarding the exchanging and relying on third parties’ data is shared by, amongst others, the FATF and the UK. However, South Africa appears to be lagging behind in this respect. In other words, the South African FICA and FICA Regulations omit to encapsulate express and lucid provisions permitting the exchanging and relying on third parties’ data for purposes of performing CDD measures. The aforementioned omission, it is argued, creates a legal vacuum in the South African scheme of anti-money laundering. In other words, the aforesaid vacuum lives the South African AIs in a state of doubt regarding the manner and extent of exchanging and relying on third parties’ data. However, the aforesaid vacuum, this study concedes, can be rectified by introduction provisions that are line with the draft Regulation 5A and 5B that are proposed in chapter seven of this study. / Jurisprudence / LL. M.

The opening of a bank account serves as the genesis of a bank customer relationship. It is imperative that the establishment of a bank customer relationship be regulated by law. Both the common law and statutory law regulate the admission of new clients to the realm of banking. It is a minimum requirement, in terms of both statutory and common law, that the identity of a prospective client who wishes to open a bank account must both be established and verified. This, the need to know one’s customer, is not only good law but common sense and an effective measure to prevent criminals from accessing the banking system. Parties who work together must know each other. The need to establish and verify the identity of a potential customer is commonly referred to as the Know Your Customer standards, alternatively the Customer Due Diligence framework. The Know Your Customer standards are neither unique to South Africa nor have their origins in South Africa. The Know Your Customer standards are international standards which the Financial Action Task Force and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision have been advocating for quite some time. A confluence of the Recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision greatly influenced the birth of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act in South Africa. The Financial Intelligence Centre Act 38 of 2001 prescribes the steps that a bank has to take in order to establish and verify the identity of a potential client. It will be shown in this dissertation that the identification and verification regime established by the Financial Intelligence Centre Act 38 0f 2001 and the common law are not fool proof. This dissertation makes recommendations on how the current loopholes that exist in the law can be addressed. / Mercantile Law / LLM

The opening of a bank account serves as the genesis of a bank customer relationship. It is imperative that the establishment of a bank customer relationship be regulated by law. Both the common law and statutory law regulate the admission of new clients to the realm of banking. It is a minimum requirement, in terms of both statutory and common law, that the identity of a prospective client who wishes to open a bank account must both be established and verified. This, the need to know one’s customer, is not only good law but common sense and an effective measure to prevent criminals from accessing the banking system. Parties who work together must know each other. The need to establish and verify the identity of a potential customer is commonly referred to as the Know Your Customer standards, alternatively the Customer Due Diligence framework. The Know Your Customer standards are neither unique to South Africa nor have their origins in South Africa. The Know Your Customer standards are international standards which the Financial Action Task Force and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision have been advocating for quite some time. A confluence of the Recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force and the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision greatly influenced the birth of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act in South Africa. The Financial Intelligence Centre Act 38 of 2001 prescribes the steps that a bank has to take in order to establish and verify the identity of a potential client. It will be shown in this dissertation that the identification and verification regime established by the Financial Intelligence Centre Act 38 0f 2001 and the common law are not fool proof. This dissertation makes recommendations on how the current loopholes that exist in the law can be addressed. / Mercantile Law / LLM