FIC: User guide relating to Directive 10

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FIC: User guide relating to Directive 10

• 10 November 2026
• Miscellaneous
• South African Accounting Academy

Summary:

The Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) has issued a user guide which provides guidance to accountable institutions on the manner of submission of geographic location information, in compliance with Directive 10, via the goAML platform.

Article:

The geographic location information provides the FIC with a holistic view of the geographic presence and related money laundering, terrorist and proliferation financing risks in relation to a particular accountable institution.  

Directive 10 requires accountable institutions which have operations in more than one geographic location to provide the particulars of head office, branch offices, subsidiaries head offices, as well as branches when registering with the FIC. Refer to our previous Alert dated 17 Aug 2026 

The user guide provides guidance on the way the particulars of an accountable institution’s head office, branch offices and subsidiaries should be submitted on the FIC’s registration and reporting platform, goAML. The user guide contains illustrative images and field descriptions to assist accountable institutions in providing the particulars required in terms of Directive 10. 

Directive 10 applies to the following accountable institutions, as listed in Schedule 1 to the FICA:

• Item 1: Legal practitioners
• Item 2: Certain trust and company service providers
• Item 3: Estate agents
• Item 9: Gambling institutions
• Item 11: Credit providers (excluding banks, mutual banks, and co-operative bank credit providers)
• Item 14: The South African Postbank Limited
• Item 20: High-value goods dealers
• Item 21: The South African Mint Company (RF) (Pty) Ltd
• Item 22: Crypto asset service providers

Click here to download the 17-page User Guide:

https://www.fic.gov.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/User-guide-On-the-submission-of-information-in-terms-of-Directive-10.pdf

Relevance to Auditors, Independent Reviewers & Accountants:

• FICA is yet another piece of legislation that your clients must comply with, and which you must assess compliance with.  If they don’t comply with the relevant laws and regulations, you have certain reporting obligations in terms of NOCLAR (NOn-Compliance with Laws And Regulations) – this could include reporting to management, qualifying your audit opinion, reporting a Reportable Irregularity, etc.
• Auditors, Independent Reviewers and Accountants should be aware of the latest publications and guidance issued by regulators, such as the FIC – to enable their assessment of accountable institutions’ compliance with FICA.
• When advising clients or performing this function on their behalf, practitioners should be aware of the finer details and specific guidance on failure to report to FIC.
• If your firm is a TCSP, then, as an accountable, you also need to comply with FICA in your workplace.

Relevance to Your clients:

• An entity (company or close corporation) has a duty to comply with the FICA, and accountable institutions should fulfil their reporting obligations, otherwise non-compliance could lead to financial sanctions.
• Relevant Accountable Institutions (companies and CCs) should be aware of the latest publications and guidance issued by regulators, such as the FIC.

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