Registration and the responsible person
The agency registered on goAML (section 43B), with a principal appointed as the person responsible for compliance (section 42A) and the appointment minuted.
FIC Act Schedule 1 item 2 · PPRA
FICA Compliance for Property Practitioners
Estate agencies and property practitioners are accountable institutions supervised by the PPRA. RCC builds the FIC Act framework that keeps the Fidelity Fund Certificate safe.
Property is where laundered money settles. The Act treats it that way.
Item 2 of Schedule 1 to the Financial Intelligence Centre Act lists estate agents, now property practitioners under the Property Practitioners Act of 2019. The Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority is the supervisory body, inspects under section 45B and treats FIC Act compliance as part of good standing for the Fidelity Fund Certificate. The FIC's sector risk assessment for estate agents, amended in 2024, identifies cash and third-party payments, purchases through companies and trusts whose owners are not disclosed, foreign buyers and rapid resale as the highest risks.
RCC's FICA implementation service writes the Risk Management and Compliance Programme around the way an agency actually lists, sells, lets and manages property, trains the agents and administrators who deal with buyers and tenants, and keeps the programme ready for the PPRA.
What the Act requires of an agency
The obligations on every mandate
The RMCP
A section 42 programme that assesses the agency's risk by client, transaction type, channel and area, and sets the due diligence, approval and monitoring rules for each band.
Due diligence on both sides
Buyers, sellers, landlords and tenants verified before the mandate or lease is concluded; beneficial owners of company and trust parties identified and verified; source of funds on high-risk purchases.
Screening
Every party screened against the targeted financial sanctions lists and assessed for prominent influential person status, recorded on the deal file.
Reporting
Cash threshold reports for cash of R49 999.99 or more, suspicious and unusual transaction reports within fifteen business days, and terrorist property reports, filed on goAML and logged.
Records and training
Identification and transaction records kept for five years; every agent, intern and administrator trained on the Act and the RMCP with attendance records.
Beyond FICA
The other obligations a practitioner carries
An agency also holds personal information on every buyer, seller and tenant and must meet POPIA's conditions for it, from the record of processing activities to operator contracts with portals and screening providers. RCC drafts and maintains these as part of governance frameworks and runs FICA and POPIA training for agents in a single session.
Common questions
Questions we are asked
Which property businesses are accountable institutions?+
Item 2 of Schedule 1 covers estate agents, read with the Property Practitioners Act definition of a property practitioner, which includes sales, letting and property management businesses and the practitioners within them. Confirm your position and keep a note of the reasoning.
Who inspects property practitioners for FICA?+
The Property Practitioners Regulatory Authority is the supervisory body for item 2 and inspects under section 45B of the FIC Act. The Centre may also inspect, and administrative sanctions are published.
Must we verify the buyer if the attorney will?+
Yes. The conveyancer's obligations are its own. The agency is an accountable institution in its own right and must verify its clients and the other parties to the transaction under its own RMCP before the mandate is concluded.
What does FICA implementation for an agency cost?+
A fixed fee for the risk assessment, RMCP and training, quoted after a short scoping call based on the size of the agency and its sales, rental and management mix, with an optional monitoring retainer thereafter.
Related services
Services that go with this one
- FICA implementationRMCP drafting, AML and CFT measures, inspection readiness.Explore fica implementation
- Governance frameworksInternal controls and regulatory readiness that survive scrutiny.Explore governance frameworks
- Industry trainingFAIS, FICA, TCF, POPIA and conflict of interest.Explore industry training
- Compliance monitoringOngoing FAIS, FICA and NCA monitoring, plus outsourced compliance officer services.Explore compliance monitoring
See where your obligations actually stand.
Book a consultation: a structured review of your current obligations, gaps and exposure, with no obligation to proceed.