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FICA Compliance Check: Self-Audit Quiz for South African Law Firms & Accountable Institutions

Many law firms and accountable institutions assume they are compliant until regulators say otherwise. The FICA Friendly 2-Minute Self-Audit Quiz provides a fast, safe, and actionable snapshot of your firm’s compliance with the Financial Intelligence Centre Act (FIC Act, 38 of 2001). It highlights risk areas, helps you prioritize corrective actions, and gives confidence that you’re meeting essential obligations.

Even a single overlooked gap can lead to fines exceeding R100,000, license suspension, or reputational damage. This quiz helps you identify them before they become costly problems.

Why It Matters for Your Firm

The FIC Act imposes multiple responsibilities on accountable institutions. The quiz doesn’t just check boxes, it evaluates your firm against the key functions required under FIC:

Avoid FIC Sanctions and Fines: Regulators don’t accept ignorance. Institutions have been fined R-millions for gaps in RMCPs, poor client verification, or missed reporting deadlines.
Protect Your Reputation: Even a small lapse can erode trust with clients, partners, banks, and insurance providers.
Save Time and Cost: Identifying weak spots early via a 2-minute check saves you more time, money and risk than scrambling during a compliance audit.
Meet Legal Obligations: FIC expects accountable institutions to document everything registration, policies, training, etc. The quiz helps you see if you satisfy these foundations.

What the Quiz Covers

The quiz is divided into four focused areas to mirror the key obligations the FIC expects from accountable institutions:

Section

Function in FIC Compliance

1. Registration & Documentation

Establishes your firm as a recognized accountable institution under the FIC Act, ensuring formal oversight, accountability, and a documented compliance structure.

2. Client Identification & Verification

Do you verify identity, identify beneficial owners, maintain client records for five years, and screen against sanctions lists?

3. Transaction Monitoring & Reporting

Meets CDD requirements to verify clients and prevent money laundering, terrorist financing, and dealings with sanctioned persons.

4. Training & Procedures

Ensures staff consistently follow FIC-mandated processes, maintain records, and carry out compliance duties effectively, reducing institutional and personal liability.

Each question requires a simple yes or no answer.

How to Use the Quiz Results

The FICA Friendly self-audit quiz is only 20 questions and can be completed in about 2 minutes, yet it provides a comprehensive check of your firm’s core FICA compliance obligations.

Steps to complete the quiz in 2 minutes:

1. Answer 20 straightforward questions: Each one focuses on a key area of FICA compliance.

2. Submit your responses: No complicated forms or lengthy explanations required.

3. Receive your score out of 20: Instantly see which areas are strong and where gaps exist.

4. View your suggested roadmap: Step-by-step guidance shows how to reach full compliance (20/20).

Once you finish, your results are presented as a score out of 20, highlighting areas where your firm meets requirements and where attention is needed.

Common Oversights the Quiz Helps Identify

After completing the quiz, you will receive your compliance score. Use it as an internal benchmark — share with your compliance officer or leadership if needed. If the results show multiple gaps, make a plan:

Using outdated or non-specific RMCP templates rather than one customized to your firm.
Not verifying beneficial owners for corporate clients.
Failing to screen clients against updated sanctions or PEP lists.
Submitting reports late or with incomplete information.
Staff unaware of their obligations or unclear internal procedures.

What to Do Next

1. Review Your Score: Identify which areas need attention — the lower your score, the higher the risk.

2. Prioritize Critical Gaps: Focus first on high-risk areas such as registration status, RMCP, sanctions & PEP screening, or missing policies.

3. Follow Your Personalized Roadmap: The quiz provides step-by-step guidance to move your firm toward full compliance (20/20).

4. Implement Remedial Actions: Update documentation, strengthen client verification, monitor transactions, and train staff as needed.

5. Seek Expert Support if Necessary: For significant gaps, consult qualified FICA compliance professionals to ensure your firm meets all regulatory requirements.

By following these steps, the self-audit becomes more than a check, it’s a practical roadmap to protect your firm from fines, reputational damage, and regulatory risk.

Conclusion

The FICA Friendly Self-Audit Quiz is a fast, practical, and safe way to understand your firm’s compliance status. Even firms confident in their processes often discover gaps they didn’t know existed. Take 2 minutes today it could save your firm hundreds of thousands of rands and significant reputational risk.

[Start Your 2-Minute Self-Audit Quiz Now]

Authored by FICA Friendly, a trusted compliance consultancy supporting South African law firms, financial service providers, property practitioners, and high-value goods dealers. We have worked with 30+ law firms, successfully guided clients through Risk Compliance Return submissions, and helped reduce sanctions — for example, lowering a R50,000 notice of non-compliance to R10,000.

Let us know what you think in the comments!