"Pressure pushing down on me, pressing down on you..." the iconic line from Bowie and Queen’s anthem feels prophetic for South Africa’s financial sector in 2025. With regulatory heat intensifying from the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) and Prudential Authority (PA), heightened global expectations post-greylisting, and new compliance frontiers such as crypto and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors, the stakes for financial institutions have never been higher.

We explore key regulatory trends shaping South Africa’s legal and compliance landscape in 2025 and offer practical guidelines on how businesses can navigate them.

Enhanced executive accountability

Trend overview: There is increasing global pressure, driven by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Financial Action Task Force (FATF), and international investors, for South African regulators to mirror enforcement regimes like the United Kingdom's (UK) Senior Managers & Certification Regime (SMCR), where executives are routinely held liable for misconduct.

The FSCA has called on boards and executives to take personal responsibility for regulatory compliance.

Both the FSCA and the PA have intensified enforcement efforts, particularly against members of governing bodies for failures related to governance, market abuse, misleading disclosures, and anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CFT) controls. This shift aims to ensure that leadership plays an active role in maintaining regulatory standards.

In the 2023/24 financial year, the FSCA imposed administrative penalties totalling approximately ZAR 943 million on 31 individuals, a notable rise from previous years. Significant sanctions were levied under the Financial Markets Act and against individuals involved in investment scams.