Banks will look at accounts of the politically exposed, says Laurie Dippenaar
THOSE pressuring President Jacob Zuma to decline a bill that paves way for the bank accounts and trusts of politically exposed individuals to be scrutinised must watch-out: the banking community will do so anyway, FirstRand chairman Laurie Dippenaar warned on Tuesday."It’s very simple … if we suddenly had to pass a bill that the Receiver of Revenue has to audit the tax returns of high-net worth individuals and the high-net worth individuals started pulling strings to avoid it, does it make any difference?"The South African Revenue Service (SARS) could so anyway, Dippenaar said. "So we [financial institutions] can audit politically exposed persons or delve into their domestic activities without any act … in fact, if they don’t pass the bill we’ll probably do it with renewed vigour and enthusiasm," he added.The president has come under fire from various groups for his alleged reluctance to approve an amendment to the Financial Intelligence Centre Act, which will strengthen capacity to...
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