Article supplied: Du Randt Attorneys

Here’s a few things you need to know:

Recently the Protection of Personal Information Act (POPI-Act) came into operation and businesses have until 1 July 2021 to comply with this Act. The act is applicable to any business that collects, uses, stores or destroys personal information. This act also gives effect to every person’s right to privacy and regulate the manner in which personal information may be processed.

The implication being that you will have to amend your company documentation, contract, agreement or client information sheet according to the applicable sections of the Act. Every business must also register with the Information Regulator and appoint an Information Officer/s for their business. Your business will need to have the required policies in place to provide for instances such as data loss, data breach and incident response.

Financial Intelligence Centre Act, Act no.38 of 2001(FICA)

Your FICA compliance may also need a closer look as it seems that not many institutions are completely compliant with the act. Every accountable- and reporting institution must be registered with the Financial Intelligence Centre and have a Risk Management and Compliance Program which sets out your internal rules and processes for the implementation of your Client Due Diligence and reporting procedures.

Your staff will also need the necessary training to know when and how to report a transaction and what documents should be requested from a potential client before any transactions may take place. These documents include but are not limited to, proof of address, confirmation of banking details, a valid ID document, SARS tax registration certificate, VAT certificate etc. All these documents need to be up to date, and the latest documents should be requested upon every renewal of a contract/agreement.

Paymaster Service:

In today’s business economy it is paramount to have a safe and secure way of completing large transactions, our firm will act as a paymaster for your transaction. The main purpose of a paymaster is to receive monies in an escrow account from the buyer/s in a large transaction, and after all other terms in that transaction has been fulfilled, to disburse the monies held to the sellers, agents and brokers of the transaction.

With the necessary background and knowledge of how these transactions should take place and the current problems faced with cyber-crime, you can trust our firm to assist you in these types of matters.  

For more information or if you need assistance with any matter you can contact Du Randt Attorneys at 071-386-3388 or send an e-mail to legal1@hdurandt.co.za or legal2@hdurandt.co.za.