Banks, SARS & the customer

Part 7 of the Proceeds of Crime Act 2007 (POCA 2002) put banks between a rock and a hard place. The bank has no interest in acting contrary to the needs or interests of their customers upon who they rely for business. Doubtless they have every desire to meet their own contractual duties owed to their customers in the interests of good business. But Pt 7 of POCA 2002 clearly puts the bank between its customer and the legislature.

Even if a bank account did not contain funds which were criminal property and no offence had been committed by the customer, s 328(1) applied where the bank had a suspicion that it was involved in dealing with criminal property; the combined effect of ss 328(2), 335 and 338 is to force a third party in the bank’s position to report its suspicions to the relevant authorities and not to move suspect funds or property for the requisite time period;