Directive 10: What AIs need to know about the FIC's new location reporting rules
If your business is registered with South Africa's Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), there's a new compliance requirement you can't afford to overlook. Directive 10 came into effect on Friday, 31 July 2026, and it changes what accountable institutions (AIs) must tell the FIC about where they operate.
Here's what it means for you, and what you need to do about it.
What is Directive 10?
Directive 10 is about geographic transparency. It requires certain AIs to give the FIC a clear picture of their physical footprint (head offices, branches, subsidiaries, and even the branches of those subsidiaries) whether those locations are inside or outside South Africa.
This isn't just a "tell us your head office address" exercise. The directive covers your entire corporate structure, including:
Head offices: full particulars of your primary head office
Local branches: details for every branch operating within South Africa
Foreign branches: details for every branch operating outside South Africa
Local subsidiaries: head office details for each subsidiary based in South Africa
Foreign subsidiaries: head office details for each subsidiary based abroad
Sub-branch operations: if one of your subsidiaries has its own foreign branches, those need to be disclosed too
In short: if your institution touches a location, the FIC wants to know about it.
Who does this apply to?
Directive 10 doesn't apply to every AI, it's targeted at specific categories listed under Schedule 1 of the FIC Act:
Item 1: Legal Practitioners / Attorneys
Item 2: Trust and Company Service Providers (TCSPs)
Item 3: Estate Agents
Item 9: Gambling Institutions / Casinos
Item 11: Credit Providers (excluding registered banks, mutual banks, and co-operative bank credit providers)
Item 14: South African Postbank Limited
Item 20: High-Value Goods Dealers
Item 21: South African Mint Company
Item 22: Crypto Asset Service Providers (CASPs)
(Schedule 1 Items 8 and 12 are excluded from Directive 10.)
Why this matters
If your institution operates from more than one location, you're now responsible for making sure the FIC has accurate, up-to-date information about every head office, branch and subsidiary through which you physically deliver products or services, domestically and internationally.
This gives the FIC a clearer view of your business structure, which in turn allows for more effective, risk-based supervision.
What information do you need to provide?
For each relevant location, you'll need to submit:
The name of the head office, branch, subsidiary, or subsidiary branch
Licence number (where applicable)
Registration number (where applicable)
Business address of the location
Name and contact details of the person responsible for compliance at that location
What's expected of you, and by when?
If you're already a registered accountable institution, you have 90 days from the date Directive 10 took effect to update your details. Since Directive 10 came into force on 31 July 2026, that means the deadline to update your registration is Thursday, 29 October 2026. Any changes after that, such as ongoing changes, any opening, relocation, or structural change to a branch or subsidiary must be updated on the portal within 90 days of the change occurring.
A simple way to think about your obligations:
Check: Does Directive 10 apply to your institution?
Identify: List every relevant location.
Collect: Gather the required details for each one.
Update: Submit or amend your FIC registration within the deadline.
Maintain: Keep the information accurate as things change.
How to submit your geographic location information
The process runs through your goAML profile:
Log into your accountable institution's head office goAML profile
Navigate to the "Active Organisations" tab
Select "Create a new delegating organisation"
Enter the geographic location information for the specific branch or subsidiary
What happens if you don't comply?
The FIC has been clear: failure to comply could result in administrative sanctions, which may include financial penalties. Beyond the risk of a fine, accurate location reporting is also what allows the FIC to apply supervision that's proportionate to your actual footprint, so getting it right works in your favour too.
Getting help
If any of our clients are unsure whether Directive 10 applies to them, or need help with the submission process, give us a call, we are here to help.
The FIC can also be contacted for any assistance and can be reached at +27 12 641 6000, or via an online compliance query. More information is also available at www.fic.gov.za.
