When Must a FAIS Representative File a Cash Threshold Report — and What Counts as "Cash"?

A client settles an outstanding investment premium with R55,000 in banknotes. The representative accepts the cash, issues a receipt, and processes the transaction. No suspicion arises. The client is known. The money appears legitimate. But from the moment that cash is received, a regulatory clock has started — and it runs for 3 days.

Section 28 of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act 38 of 2001 requires accountable institutions to file a Cash Threshold Report with the Financial Intelligence Centre whenever a single cash transaction exceeds the prescribed limit. The obligation is automatic. It requires no suspicion, no evidence of wrongdoing, and no judgment call. The only question is whether the amount of physical cash crossed the threshold.

The Rule

Under Section 28 of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act 38 of 2001 (FICA), an accountable institution must file a Cash Threshold Report (CTR) with the Financial Intelligence Centre whenever physical cash exceeding R49,999.99 is received from or paid to a client. The report must be submitted within 3 days of becoming aware of the threshold-exceeding transaction. "Days" for this purpose are defined in the Regulations as all days of the week excluding Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays. "Cash" under FICA specifically includes coin and paper money of any legal tender currency as well as travellers' cheques, but excludes EFTs, personal cheques, bank-issued cheques, and card payments. The obligation is automatic — no suspicion is required, and the transaction may proceed while the report is being prepared.

The Legislative Framework

The Core Obligation: Section 28

Section 28 of FICA imposes the reporting duty on two categories of institution: accountable institutions and reporting institutions. For FAIS purposes, the accountable institutions that matter are FSPs authorised to provide advice or intermediary services in respect of investment financial products — this follows from Schedule 1, Item 12 of FICA. An FSP dealing exclusively in non-life insurance policies, reinsurance business, or medical schemes is not a Schedule 1 accountable institution and is therefore not subject to Section 28.

The obligation applies in both directions. Section 28 requires a CTR when cash is paid to the client or received from the client. A representative who pays out R60,000 in cash to a client (for instance, on a client instruction to withdraw funds) has the same reporting obligation as one who receives R60,000 in cash from a client. This bidirectional obligation is not widely understood — many practitioners assume CTRs apply only to cash received.

The Prescribed Amount: R49,999.99

The threshold is set by Regulation 22B of the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Control Regulations:

The prescribed amount of cash above which a transaction must be reported to the Centre under section 28 of the Act is R49 999,99.

Section 28 uses the phrase "in excess of the prescribed amount" — meaning strictly greater than R49,999.99. A transaction of exactly R49,999.99 does not trigger a CTR. A transaction of R50,000.00 does. The practical trigger is R50,000.

What Counts as "Cash"

The definition of "cash" in Section 1 of FICA is narrow and precise:

"cash" means—
(a) coin and paper money of the Republic or of another country that is designated as legal tender and that circulates as, and is customarily used and accepted as, a medium of exchange in the country of issue;
(b) travellers' cheques;

Two categories only: physical currency (banknotes and coins, in any legal tender currency) and travellers' cheques. Everything else — EFTs, bank-issued cheques, personal cheques, debit card payments, credit card payments — falls outside the definition. A client who pays R100,000 by EFT does not trigger a CTR under Section 28. A client who pays R60,000 by travellers' cheque does.

The Reporting Period: 3 Days

Regulation 24(4) of the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Control Regulations specifies the prescribed period:

A report under section 28 of the Act must be sent to the Centre as soon as possible but not later than 3 days after a natural person or any of his or her employees, or any of the employees of officers of a legal person or other entity, has become aware of a fact of a cash transaction that has exceeded the prescribed limit.

The clock starts from the moment of awareness, not the date of the transaction — though in practice these coincide. The "as soon as possible" qualifier is not a formality: the 3 days is a ceiling, not a target. Reports should be filed promptly.

Compare this with the 15-day window for Suspicious Transaction Reports under Section 29, and the 5-day window for terrorist property reports under Section 28A. The CTR's 3-day window is the shortest of the three.

The Transaction Continues

Section 33 of FICA addresses directly what many practitioners get wrong:

An accountable institution, reporting institution or person required to make a report to the Centre in terms of section 28 or 29, may continue with and carry out the transaction in respect of which the report is required to be made unless the Centre directs the accountable institution, reporting institution or person in terms of section 34 not to proceed with the transaction.

Filing a CTR does not require the institution to hold, freeze, or delay the transaction. The representative can complete the client's investment instruction and submit the CTR simultaneously or within the 3-day window. Only a specific instruction from the Centre under Section 34 — which is not routine — would require the transaction to stop.

Where Practitioners Go Wrong

Assuming cash means only banknotes and coins. The travellers' cheque inclusion in Section 1 is the most commonly missed element of the CTR obligation. Travellers' cheques are paper-based instruments that must be countersigned — in everyday usage they feel more like a cheque than cash. FICA's definition captures them because the original anti-money laundering intent was to address instruments that could be used to move large sums while appearing more legitimate than physical cash. The statutory definition controls, not everyday intuition.

Treating the CTR as evidence of suspicion. The CTR and the STR serve entirely different functions. A CTR is a transparency mechanism — it reports the fact that physical cash above a threshold changed hands. The STR (Section 29) reports known or suspected criminal activity. A single transaction can simultaneously trigger both: a client paying R60,000 in cash (CTR) whose source of funds the representative suspects (STR). But the CTR arises from the amount alone. Filing a CTR means only that the threshold was crossed — it carries no implication about the client's legitimacy.

Thinking the transaction must stop. The conflation of "reporting" with "suspicious" leads many practitioners to assume that once a CTR is required, the transaction is in question. Section 33 removes any ambiguity: the transaction proceeds unless the Centre specifically instructs otherwise.

Confusing the R49,999.99 threshold with older figures. The current threshold has been at R49,999.99 for a significant period, but practitioners who completed their original FICA training when the threshold was lower (R24,999.99) may retain the outdated figure. The current figure is set in Regulation 22B and confirmed in RE5 exam materials.

Scenarios

The legitimate client with R55,000 in cash

A representative at a unit trust FSP receives R55,000 in cash from an existing client settling an investment premium. The client is well-known, provides a reasonable explanation for the cash (a business sale), and the representative has no suspicion. A CTR must be filed within 3 days regardless. The client's explanation and known status are not relevant to the Section 28 obligation — they may be relevant to whether a separate STR is also required, but they do not remove the CTR obligation. The transaction proceeds.

The travellers' cheques

A new client presents R75,000 in travellers' cheques and instructs the representative to invest the funds in a retirement annuity. The representative, aware of the CTR obligation, reviews the amount and concludes that travellers' cheques are not "cash" and therefore no CTR is required.

This is incorrect. Section 1 of FICA expressly includes travellers' cheques in the definition of "cash." The R75,000 received by way of travellers' cheques triggers the Section 28 obligation in the same way as R75,000 in banknotes. A CTR must be filed within 3 days.

The structuring request

A client arrives with R90,000 in cash. Before handing it over, the client asks the representative to process it as two separate transactions of R45,000 each on consecutive days — "to keep it tidy." The representative understands that each individual transaction would fall below the R49,999.99 threshold and no CTR would be required for either.

This arrangement is a structuring offence under Section 64 of FICA. Any person who conducts, or causes to be conducted, two or more transactions with the purpose, in whole or in part, of avoiding a reporting duty under FICA commits an offence. The client's instruction and the representative's facilitation of it would make both parties liable. In addition, the representative's awareness of the deliberate structuring would almost certainly give rise to an STR obligation under Section 29, since the conduct indicates an attempt to evade FICA reporting requirements.

The correct response is to process the full R90,000 as a single transaction and file the CTR within 3 days.

Practical Implications

File immediately — not on day 3. Regulation 24(4) says "as soon as possible but not later than 3 days." The 3-day period is a maximum, not a target. The CTR should be filed on the day of the transaction or the day after. Waiting until day 3 as a matter of routine does not comply with the "as soon as possible" requirement.

Know the definition before the client arrives. The travellers' cheque inclusion is not intuitive. Representatives whose client base includes high-value investors or clients from jurisdictions where travellers' cheques are more commonly used should ensure their front-of-office procedures treat travellers' cheques the same as banknotes.

Decline structuring requests explicitly. A client who asks you to split a large cash deposit is asking you to commit an offence. The correct response is to explain that the full amount must be processed in a single transaction and that a CTR will be filed. If the client withdraws or the request itself gives rise to suspicion, an STR may also be required.

Understand when the STR is also needed. A CTR does not substitute for an STR. If the cash transaction also gives rise to knowledge or reasonable suspicion of money laundering, both reports must be filed — the CTR for the amount, the STR for the suspicion. They address different obligations under different sections.

Key Takeaways

• A Cash Threshold Report is required under Section 28 of FICA whenever physical cash exceeding R49,999.99 is received from or paid to a client — no suspicion required.
• "Cash" under FICA includes travellers' cheques. It does not include EFTs, personal cheques, or card payments.
• The prescribed reporting period is 3 days from awareness of the threshold-exceeding transaction.
• The transaction may proceed — filing a CTR does not freeze the client's funds.
• Deliberately structuring transactions to stay below the threshold is a criminal offence under Section 64, separate from and more serious than simply failing to file a CTR.