TIISETSO MOTSOENENG: The risks and rewards of giving Sars more power to fight financial crime
SA has its work cut out to comply with the Financial Action Task Force’s standards and avoid being blacklisted
SA is under pressure to clean up its act on money-laundering and terror financing after the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) placed it on its grey list in February for failing to meet its requirements. This means SA is under increased scrutiny and risks being blacklisted if it does not deal with the deficiencies identified by the FATF.
One of the main reasons SA is on the grey list is the lack of effective beneficial owner identification. A beneficial owner is the natural person who ultimately owns or controls a legal entity such as a company, trust, partnership or association. Knowing who the beneficial owners are is crucial for tax authorities to determine tax liabilities and prevent tax evasion, as well as for other authorities to investigate illicit activities such as money-laundering, corruption, fraud and terrorism...
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