Money Laundering and Proceeds of Crime Act Act No. 4/2013 (5) This section shall not be interpreted as requiring the Unit in every case to communicate or otherwise deal with financial institutions and designated non-financial businesses or professions only through the appropriate competent supervisory authority. (6) The Unit and its inspectors may exercise any of their powers under this Act for the purpose of providing assistance or information to foreign counterpart agencies in terms of subsection (1)(b). 4 Power of Director to issue directives for purposes of this Act (1) The Director may, in consultation with the Governor of the Reserve Bank, issue to competent supervisory authorities, financial institutions and designated non-financial businesses or professions or any class of such authority, institution, business or profession, written directives of a general character not inconsistent with this Act relating to the exercise of any functions conferred or imposed on competent supervisory authorities, financial institutions and designated non-financial businesses or professions by or under this Act which, in the Director’s opinion, are necessary or convenient to be so issued for the better administration and implementation of this Act. (3) Any directive issued under this section— (a) may be absolute or conditional; (b) may be limited so as to expire on a specified date unless renewed; (c) may be revoked or varied in the same way as it was issued; (d) shall be given to such persons or published in such manner as, in the opinion of the Director, will give any person affected by it an adequate opportunity of getting to know of it. (4) Subject to subsections (6) and (7), any competent supervisory authority, financial institution or designated non-financial business or profession which fails to comply with a directive addressed to it within the period specified in the directive (or such longer period as the Director may, for good cause shown, allow in writing) shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding level eight for each day during which it is in default of compliance with the directive, calculated from the day when the directive was issued. (5) Subject to subsection (6), the Director may, in his or her discretion, publish a directive by notice in the Gazette, and such publication shall be sufficient notice to any financial institution or designated non-financial business or profession or class thereof to which it is addressed. (6) Every directive providing for the imposition of a civil penalty must be framed in general terms as applying to all financial institutions or designated non-financial businesses or professions or any one or more classes thereof,, and must be published with the approval of the Minister as a statutory instrument. (7) No competent supervisory authority, financial institution or designated non-financial business or profession shall be convicted of a contravention of this Act by virtue of a directive which was not published in the Gazette unless it is proved that— (a) the directive was served on the competent supervisory authority, financial institution or designated non-financial business or profession; or (b) the financial institution knew or avoided getting to know of the directive: Provided that, where it is shown that reasonable steps were taken for the purpose of bringing the contents of the directive to its notice, the onus shall lie on the financial institution or designated non-financial business or profession concerned to show that it did not know and did not avoid getting to know of the directive. (8) Any competent supervisory authority, financial institution or designated non-financial business or profession aggrieved by a directive issued under subsection (1) may apply to a judge in chambers, and upon such application the judge may confirm, vary or set aside the directive and additionally, or alternatively, give such other order in the matter as he or she considers just. - 13 -