FIC Directive 8 Now Active

Please note that a compliance deadline has not yet been issued for Directive 8 of 2023.

Accountable institutions must screen prospective employees and current employees for competence and integrity periodically, in a risk-based manner

Directive 8 requires that attorneys and trust account advocates must prior to employing any person, or after such employment, regularly scan and verify each individual, including

  • Finger print verification
  • Photo ID
  • Academic qualification
  • SAPS Criminal Record Check
  • Credit Check

Be Compliant can assist with providing the required reports.


The purpose of this Directive is to require accountable institutions to screen prospective employees and current employees for competence and integrity, as well as to scrutinize employee information against the targeted financial sanctions lists, in order to identify, assess, monitor, mitigate and manage the risk of money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing.

This Directive is issued by the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) in terms of
section 43A(1) of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act, 2001 (Act 38 of 2001)
(the FIC Act.)

The Directive is available as a PDF download from the FIC website.

LPA Financial Year

For the majority of attorneys and trust account advocates, 29 February was the end of their Financial Year.

In terms of the Legal Practice Act, trust account practitioners now have six months to file their audit reports. This means a Chartered Accountant (CA SA) must audit and report on the state of the financial records and submit this report not later than Friday 30 August 2024.

Audit reports are submitted to the local provincial Legal Practice Council office.