| (1) | If a person is charged with negligently committing an offence under section 2(1)(a) or (b), 4, 5 or 6, that person may raise as a defence the fact that he or she had reported a suspicion in terms of section 29 of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act, 2001. |
| (2) | If a person who is an employee of an accountable institution as defined in the Financial Intelligence Centre Act, 2001, is charged with committing an offence under section 2(1)(a) or (b), 4, 5 or 6, that person may also raise as a defence that fact that he or she had— |
| (a) | complied with the applicable obligations in terms of the internal rules relating to the reporting of information of the accountable institution; or |
| (b) | reported the matter to the person charged with the responsibility of ensuring compliance by the accountable institution with its duties under that Act; or |
| (c) | reported a suspicion to his or her superior, if any, if— |
| (i) | the accountable institution had not appointed such a person or established such rules; |
| (ii) | the accountable institution had not complied with its obligations in section 42(3) of that Act in respect of that person; or |
| (iii) | those rules were not applicable to that person. |
[Section 7A amended by section 79 of Act No. 38 of 2001]
