Beneficial ownership information
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Individual Reform: Beneficial ownership information 2026 - 2027

The required legislation has been passed but the challenge is getting the systems in place to gather and share beneficial ownership information and then to get compliance from all companies and trusts. We expect full compliance will take years as the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission and the Masters’ Offices of the High Court have to pursue those who haven’t submitted returns or submitted incomplete ones. There is also no evidence of straightforward information sharing with investigatory authorities – we need to see the police and others actively using beneficial ownership information, and the CIPC/Masters’ Offices providing it, to build cases relating to fraud and other criminal activity.

Changing law.

No data available for the deliverable: Changing law.

No data available for the deliverable: Changing law.

No data available for the deliverable: Changing law.

No data available for the deliverable: Changing law.

No data available for the deliverable: Changing law.

No data available for the deliverable: Changing law.

Summary

Significant work has been done at the legislative level to put in place the required laws to capture beneficial ownership information on both companies and trusts. The relevant authorities – the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission and the Master's Office of the High Court – have both set up mechanisms to capture this information, though it will take time. COMPLETE: We stopped tracking this specific reform at end-June 2025 as it is complete and in effect. Beneficial ownership registry implementation ensures robust reporting and ongoing legal refinement for companies and trusts, with coordination between CIPC and Masters’ Office and support for sustained audit cycles. Legislative adjustments for onboarding complex trust and company structures are in progress, targeting nuanced entity types and historic record gaps.
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Canvas not supported.

Is it working?

The FATF’s upgrade on technical compliance for related recommendations indicates that efforts are beginning to take effect. The success of the beneficial ownership (BO) strategy largely depended on adherence to the November 2024 deadline for all entities to have updated their BO information, which would have provided the groundwork for South Africa’s next assessment. This process was successful as this reform was achieved in February 2025 with the register operational and being used. Registry performance is now operational and compliant but further onboarding and law changes are required to secure future FATF revalidation.

Actions

National Treasury has mandated all companies and trusts to register accurate BO data by 30 November 2024, following the FATF’s assessment in September 2024 that coverage levels were insufficient. Legislation and regulation updates are anticipated to impose sanctions on non-compliant entities, aiming to provide authorities with timely access to BO data and ensuring full registry compliance. The Companies and Intellectual Property Commission and the Master's Office of the High Court have both set up mechanisms to capture the relevant information. Ongoing CIPC expansion and additional regulatory development are under way, targeting further improvements and exemptions.

Are there plans?

Led by National Treasury, government has embraced the “action plan” set out by the FATF and translated it into plans for relevant institutions including the Companies & Intellectual Property Commission and the Master's Offices of the High Court that must capture and share beneficial ownership information of companies and trusts respectively. Legislative plans direct multi-phase registry improvement, focused on onboarding and periodic accuracy audits to maintain full compliance.
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Is it on the agenda?

Part of FATF reforms, driven by NT. The government was signalling concern over the risks of grey listing before it took place and beneficial ownership information has been clearly cited as a requirement. Cabinet legal reform timetable includes registry-strengthening as a central ongoing agenda item, with key milestones mapped for full operational coverage.

Goals

For effective implementation, beneficial ownership (BO) information in companies and trusts must be gathered and be easily available to investigatory authorities. This requires changes to laws to make disclosure a legal requirement, and then building capacity in the relevant institutions to gather and share the information.

Departments / Govt Institutions

National Treasury

Summary

Significant work has been done at the legislative level to put in place the required laws to capture beneficial ownership information on both companies and trusts. The relevant authorities – the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission and the Master's Office of the High Court – have both set up mechanisms to capture this information. COMPLETE: We stopped tracking this specific reform at end-June 2025 as it is complete and in effect. Beneficial ownership registry implementation ensures robust reporting and ongoing legal refinement for companies and trusts, with coordination between the CIPC and Masters’ Office and support for sustained audit cycles. Legislative adjustments for onboarding complex trust and company structures are in progress, targeting nuanced entity types and historic record gaps.

Canvas not supported.

Is it working?

The FATF’s upgrade on technical compliance for related recommendations indicates that efforts are beginning to take effect. The success of the beneficial ownership (BO) strategy largely depended on adherence to the November 2024 deadline for all entities to have updated their BO information, which would have provided the groundwork for South Africa’s next assessment. This process was successful as this reform was achieved in February 2025 with the register operational and being used. Registry performance is now operational and compliant but further onboarding and law changes are required to secure future FATF revalidation.

Actions

National Treasury has mandated all companies and trusts to register accurate BO data by 30 November 2024, following the FATF’s assessment in September 2024 that coverage levels were insufficient. Legislation and regulation updates are anticipated to impose sanctions on non-compliant entities, aiming to provide authorities with timely access to BO data and ensuring full registry compliance. The Companies and Intellectual Property Commission and the Master's Office of the High Court have both set up mechanisms to capture the relevant information. Ongoing CIPC expansion and additional regulatory development are under way, targeting further improvements and exemptions.

Are there plans?

Led by National Treasury, government has embraced the “action plan” set out by the FATF and translated it into plans for relevant institutions including the Companies & Intellectual Property Commission and the Master's Offices of the High Court that must capture and share beneficial ownership information of companies and trusts respectively. Legislative plans direct multi-phase registry improvement, focused on onboarding and periodic accuracy audits to maintain full compliance.
rn

Is it on the agenda?

Part of FATF reforms, driven by NT. The government was signalling concern over the risks of grey listing before it took place and beneficial ownership information has been clearly cited as a requirement. Cabinet legal reform timetable includes registry-strengthening as a central ongoing agenda item, with key milestones mapped for full operational coverage.

Goals

For effective implementation, beneficial ownership (BO) information in companies and trusts must be gathered and be easily available to investigatory authorities. This requires changes to laws to make disclosure a legal requirement, and then building capacity in the relevant institutions to gather and share the information.

Departments / Govt Institutions

National Treasury

Summary

Significant work has been done at the legislative level to put in place the required laws to capture beneficial ownership information on both companies and trusts. The relevant authorities – the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission and the Master's Office of the High Court – have both set up mechanisms to capture this information. COMPLETE: We stopped tracking this specific reform at end-June 2025 as it is complete and in effect. Beneficial ownership registry implementation ensures robust reporting and ongoing legal refinement for companies and trusts, with coordination between the CIPC and Masters’ Office and support for sustained audit cycles. Legislative adjustments for onboarding complex trust and company structures are in progress, targeting nuanced entity types and historic record gaps.

Canvas not supported.

Is it working?

The FATF’s upgrade on technical compliance for related recommendations indicates that efforts are beginning to take effect. The success of the beneficial ownership (BO) strategy largely depended on adherence to the November 2024 deadline for all entities to have updated their BO information, which would have provided the groundwork for South Africa’s next assessment. This process was successful as this reform was achieved in February 2025 with the register operational and being used. Registry performance is now operational and compliant but further onboarding and law changes are required to secure future FATF revalidation.

Actions

National Treasury has mandated all companies and trusts to register accurate BO data by 30 November 2024, following the FATF’s assessment in September 2024 that coverage levels were insufficient. Legislation and regulation updates are anticipated to impose sanctions on non-compliant entities, aiming to provide authorities with timely access to BO data and ensuring full registry compliance. The Companies and Intellectual Property Commission and the Master's Office of the High Court have both set up mechanisms to capture the relevant information. Ongoing CIPC expansion and additional regulatory development are under way, targeting further improvements and exemptions.

Are there plans?

Led by National Treasury, government has embraced the “action plan” set out by the FATF and translated it into plans for relevant institutions including the Companies & Intellectual Property Commission and the Master's Offices of the High Court that must capture and share beneficial ownership information of companies and trusts respectively. Legislative plans direct multi-phase registry improvement, focused on onboarding and periodic accuracy audits to maintain full compliance.
rn

Is it on the agenda?

Part of FATF reforms, driven by NT. The government was signalling concern over the risks of grey listing before it took place and beneficial ownership information has been clearly cited as a requirement. Cabinet legal reform timetable includes registry-strengthening as a central ongoing agenda item, with key milestones mapped for full operational coverage.

Goals

For effective implementation, beneficial ownership (BO) information in companies and trusts must be gathered and be easily available to investigatory authorities. This requires changes to laws to make disclosure a legal requirement, and then building capacity in the relevant institutions to gather and share the information.

Departments / Govt Institutions

National Treasury

Analyst: Tinashe Kambadza
Status: completed
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