02Your obligation here
South Africa supervises virtual-asset activity through two bodies in tandem: the Financial Sector Conduct Authority licenses crypto asset service providers, and the Financial Intelligence Centre supervises the AML/CFT obligations and receives the reports. What an examiner tests is the programme behind the licence, consistent in shape:
- A named compliance officer
- A written AML/CFT programme
- A documented risk assessment
- Risk-based customer due diligence
- Ongoing sanctions and PEP screening
- Transaction monitoring
- Suspicious-transaction reporting to the Financial Intelligence Centre
Conduct & licensing
FSCA The Financial Sector Conduct Authority licenses crypto asset service providers under its financial-services framework. Register: fsca.co.za/Fais/Search_FSP.htm
AML/CFT & reporting
FIC The Financial Intelligence Centre supervises the AML/CFT obligations and receives suspicious-transaction and threshold reporting. Site: fic.gov.za
Any specific FSCA licence category, capital or fit-and-proper requirement, FIC registration condition, filing deadline or transition date is confirmed against that regulator's own source before it is stated. The sentence stays generic if unconfirmed.
03What we build in South Africa crypto
01Licensing & new-regime buildThe AML/CFT programme the FSCA expects behind a crypto asset service provider licence: enterprise risk assessment, policies and procedures, the compliance and MLRO function, wallet and counterparty controls, the file that survives the review.Detail →
02RemediationAfter an FSCA finding, a deficiency notice or a failed audit: gap analysis against the applicable framework, a fix that closes the finding, and the evidence trail to prove closure at re-inspection.Detail →
03Outsourced & bridge MLRO + FIUA senior compliance officer or bridge MLRO while you recruit, plus a managed financial-intelligence function: alert triage, investigations, and suspicious-transaction reporting to the Financial Intelligence Centre.Detail →
04Independent AML auditThe independent review of your virtual-asset programme that the FSCA and your board expect, tested against the current framework, with findings you can act on.Detail →
05Sanctions & integrity DDSanctions and screening controls, counterparty due diligence, and the crypto Travel Rule for originator and beneficiary information on transfers, applied to the extent the current framework requires.Detail →
04Why it is urgent now
Standing exposure
Virtual assets in South Africa are already supervised. The pressure is standing, not seasonal.
- The FSCA licenses the activity, the FIC supervises the AML side and receives the reports.
- The register of licensed providers is public, so a thin programme is exposed at the next examination, not at some future deadline.
- Cross-border flows put the operator in the sanctions-screening line of sight, where thin programmes fail first.
Tell us what you are trying to license, fix or run in South Africa crypto.
Fixed scope. No hourly billing. A costed plan within 48 hours.