On 31 March 2025 the Financial Intelligence Centre issued Directive 3A, accompanied by Public Compliance Communication 50A, to provide “guidance on the measures required for the mitigation of loss of intelligence data due to reporting failures.” Directive 3A replaces a substantially similar Directive 3 issued in September 2014 which dealt with the situation where any person required to make a report under the Financial Intelligence Centre Act, 2001 fails to do so. Directive 3A includes the requirement that a person or institution who becomes aware of a reporting failure, must “mitigate the loss of intelligence data” by immediately informing the FIC in writing of the failure and requesting an engagement with the FIC to discuss mitigating factors.

According to Public Compliance Communication 50A, a reporting failure takes place “where a report ought to be filed and the reporter either fails to submit such a report or files a defective report with the Centre.” A reporting failure occurs where a report is not submitted, where a report is submitted but rejected by the reporting platform due to validation failures, or the report contains inaccurate, incorrect or false data. A reporting obligation is only discharged where a reportable event is identified timeously, reported within the required period, all mandatory and readily available information is reflected accurately in the report, and the report is submitted in the form required.

PCC50A sets out in detail how remediation is achieved in the case of a non or defective submission but the subsequent engagements with the FIC following a reporting failure “do not imply condonation of the failure”. Failure to comply with and follow the processes in Directive 3A may result in administrative sanctions under the FIC Act. Although Directive 3A does not apply to the submission of defective reports, PCC50A makes it clear that a defective report does not discharge a reporting obligation nor is any extra time given for proper submission after a defective report is submitted. Proper attention must be given to the type of report required to be made, the process to be followed, and the information that must be included for each report.

Not only does a failure to report an AML/CTF event have consequences, but not reporting the failure and mitigating the consequences of the event can also attract penalties.