In April 2023, the Trust Property Control Act (TPCA) was amended to inter alia compel trusts to submit a register with prescribed information regarding beneficial owners (BO Register) to the Master of the High Court.

These rules, as well as rules regarding the disclosure of beneficial ownership in respect of assets owned by companies, were introduced to address deficiencies identified by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) when greylisting South Africa.

While the trust rules came into effect on 1 April 2023, neither the TPCA nor the Master at the time stipulated a deadline for the submission of the BO Registers. As trusts have apparently been slow to comply with this requirement, the website of the Master has recently been updated and now reflects 15 November 2024 as the deadline for the submission of BO Registers.

As the failure by a trustee to submit the Register to the Master is an offence which, on conviction, could result in a fine of up to ZAR 10-million and/ or imprisonment for a period of up to five years, trustees should ensure that they comply with their obligations in respect of the submission of the BO Register.

Whether such sanctions will actually be enforced by the Master in practice remains to be seen, but we would nevertheless recommend that trustees look to settle and submit their BO Registers as soon as reasonably possible (even if after the deadline) for sake of compliance.

While the definition of a beneficial owner is not that clear, as a minimum, the beneficial owners of a trust will include the founder and the trustees. It is important to note that beneficiaries are not automatically included in the definition of a beneficial owner.

Written by Samir Ellary, Partner and Aneria Bouwer, Senior Consultant, Bowmans