The Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) Travel Rule mandates financial institutions, including virtual asset providers, to furnish originator and beneficiary information for transactions. Signed by FIC acting director Pieter Smit on April 18, 2024, the directive mandates ordering, intermediary, and recipient crypto asset service providers to transmit personal details like full name, ID or passport number, wallet address, date and place of birth, and residential address.
Among other stipulations, ordering providers must relay the sender’s identity to the recipient service provider. For cross-border transfers under R5000 from FATF grey-listed jurisdictions, beneficiary service providers must verify the recipient. Additionally, for transactions involving “unhosted crypto wallets,” CASPs must establish effective risk-based policies and procedures to obtain wallet information in suspected money laundering cases.
Non-compliance will lead to administrative sanctions. South Africa, greylisted by FATF in February 2023, is among several African nations on the list, including Nigeria, Mali, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, and Kenya.
The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) of South Africa has approved 75 institutions to operate as crypto asset service providers, signaling efforts towards regulatory compliance.
