Ninety One Assurance Limited, the South African insurance business of global investment manager Ninety One, has been sanctioned by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) over breaches of provisions of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FIC Act).

The penalties, imposed by the Prudential Authority (PA) following an inspection conducted in 2023, highlight shortcomings in the company’s enhanced customer due diligence and risk management and compliance framework.

Ninety One Assurance fined R6 million for FIC Act breaches

According to the Prudential Authority, Ninety One Assurance, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ninety One, was handed two cautions, two reprimands and financial penalties totalling R6 million ($372,232), of which R2.5 million ($155,097) was conditionally suspended for 36 months from June 19, 2025. The PA imposed a R2.5 million ($155,097) penalty after finding that Ninety One Assurance had failed to adequately conduct enhanced due diligence on some sampled client files. Of this amount, R1.5 million ($93,058) was conditionally suspended for 36 months.

The regulator also imposed a further R3.5 million ($217,135) penalty, of which R1 million ($62,039) was conditionally suspended, over deficiencies in the company’s Risk Management and Compliance Programme. The PA found that Ninety One Assurance had failed to adequately develop, document, maintain and implement a framework capable of effectively identifying, assessing, monitoring, mitigating and managing risks associated with sanctions screening, prominent influential person screening, its business and its clients.

The company was also found to have lacked adequate evidence of documented and implemented policies, procedures and controls setting out how it would comply with its relevant obligations under the FIC Act. Ninety One Assurance has cooperated with the PA and indicated that it has undertaken remedial action to address the identified compliance deficiencies and control weaknesses.

Ninety One’s position in the market

Ninety One is a global investment manager headquartered in London and listed on the London Stock Exchange and Johannesburg Stock Exchange. The group traces its origins to South Africa and operates across investment management, serving institutional, advisor and private clients across international markets.

Its South African operations form part of the group’s broader investment and financial-services presence in the country, where Ninety One has established itself as a prominent asset manager.

The latest sanctions highlight the increasing regulatory scrutiny facing financial-services companies as authorities strengthen enforcement of anti-money laundering, sanctions-screening and customer due diligence requirements.

For Ninety One Assurance, the action reinforces the importance of maintaining robust compliance frameworks capable of identifying and managing financial-crime risks, particularly as financial institutions operate across increasingly complex regulatory and international markets.