Head of FIC nears end of his term
• Loss of another Treasury stalwart fuels fears
The head of the Financial Intelligence Centre, which is at the heart of the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism, will leave at the end of 2017.
The head of the Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC), which is at the heart of the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorism, will leave at the end of 2017 and the Treasury is seeking a replacement for him.
The contract of FIC director Murray Michell, who has been at the helm of the body since it was established about 14 years ago, is coming to an end. It is understood that he is retiring.
The Treasury advertised the position at the weekend, giving only two weeks before the deadline for applications, which may suggest that a replacement has been identified.
The real danger would be if the security cluster of agencies moved in to take over the institution at a critical time when it will be implementing higher scrutiny of prominent influential persons under the recent amendments to the FIC Act.
The agencies expressed their dissatisfaction with the FIC operating outside of their systems during parliamentary hearings on the amendments earlier in 2017.
Michell’s imminent departure adds to a number of highly placed officials who have left the Treasury since Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba took office, including former directorgeneral Lungisa Fuzile, who vacated his position a year before his contract was due to come to an end.
Two weeks ago, acting chief procurement officer Schalk Human was removed. He was replaced by Willie Mathebula, who is now the acting chief procurement officer.
Michell’s departure will give rise to concern that a key institution in the Treasury family could be compromised by a dubious appointment, but Treasury spokesman Mayihlome Tshwete gave the assurance that Gigaba would appoint someone with the right qualifications.
There were other skilled professionals within the FIC who would provide the necessary continuity after Michell had left, Tshwete said.
He noted that Michell’s con- tract had been renewed three times and that it was time to give other people an opportunity to take over.
Michell had originally asked former finance minister Pravin Gordhan if he could leave but then his contract was extended. “We must be careful of personalising institutions.
“There will be changes in Treasury but continuity as well,” Tshwete said.
DA spokesman on finance David Maynier said the appointment of a new director “is a serious risk to the institutional independence” of the FIC.
“We are going to have to monitor the appointment process carefully and ensure that a ‘fit and proper’ person is actually appointed,” added Maynier.
The appointment of the FIC director was one of six appointments of senior officials within the “finance family” that still had to be made by Gigaba.
These were the heads of the chief procurement office, public finance, international and regional economic policy, office of the accountant-general and the Treasury’s government technical advisory centre.
Maynier noted that Michell was a behind-the-scenes confidant of Gordhan, when he was finance minister, and a critical figure in the fight against “state capture”. It was during his tenure that 72 suspicious and unusual transactions involving the Guptas and totalling R6.8bn were reported.
It was these transactions that prompted the four major banks to terminate their banking relationships with Gupta-owned companies and the family.
“We must not forget that the Financial Intelligence Centre is one of the most important weapons in the fight against corruption and will be responsible for ensuring that domestic prominent influential persons doing business with the state will be subjected to enhanced scrutiny by financial institutions,” said Maynier.
Michell was not available for comment on Monday.