Moonstone Business School of Excellence (MBSE) has expanded its CPD offering with two new short courses designed to address practical challenges facing financial advisers: advising on crypto assets and learning from real-world ombud cases.
Willem van der Westhuizen, business development manager at MBSE, says the courses respond directly to regulatory developments and the increasing demand for practical guidance in the financial services industry.
Crypto advice now carries additional CPD obligations
Since the Financial Sector Conduct Authority classified crypto assets as financial products in October 2022, anyone advising on or intermediating in crypto assets must be authorised under the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act.
This has also introduced an additional CPD requirement.
Financial advisers, representatives, and key individuals working with crypto assets must complete their normal FAIS CPD hours, as well as an additional six hours of crypto-specific CPD during each cycle.
Typical FAIS CPD requirements remain unchanged:
- 6 hours for representatives dealing with Tier 2 products;
- 12 hours for representatives dealing with Tier 1 products; and
- 18 hours for key individuals or supervisors
The additional six hours of crypto CPD must specifically relate to crypto asset services and is separate from the normal FAIS CPD requirement.
Van der Westhuizen says MBSE developed its new crypto course specifically to help advisers meet this regulatory requirement.
The Cryptocurrency & Digital Assets for Financial Advisors course carries 7 CPD hours and is aimed at financial advisers, wealth managers, bankers, and investment practitioners who want practical knowledge on incorporating digital assets into client portfolios.
According to MBSE, the programme equips advisers with enough context to understand crypto assets and sufficient practical insight to determine how they may fit into financial planning strategies.
He explains that while many existing courses focus heavily on blockchain mechanics and the risks of digital assets, this programme takes a more practical advisory approach.
“The Crypto CPD course specifically does not just look at how blockchain technology works and the risk involved – which has been covered extensively for years now – but how you incorporate crypto in a financial plan rationally and how to advise clients on its inclusion in their planning.”
Learning from ombud decisions
MBSE has also introduced a second CPD course that examines lessons emerging from financial services ombud rulings.
The Ombud: Key Cases and Lessons course analyses key ombud decisions from the past year to identify where advisers, firms, or institutions went wrong and what the industry can learn from those outcomes.
The programme carries 5 CPD hours and is aimed at banking advisers, financial advisers, FSPs, business owners, key individuals, representatives, and compliance officers.
Van der Westhuizen says professionals often learn more from real cases than from legislation alone. He explains that case studies make regulatory principles far easier to understand in practice.
“We can learn what not to do by reading legislation, but we learn so much better from looking at and interpreting real-world case studies as laid out in this course. A course like this shows us what it looks like practically and how it affects real people.”
The course also examines the evolving ombud framework in South Africa.
On 1 March 2024, the National Financial Ombud Scheme South Africa (NFO) was established under the Financial Sector Regulation Act.
The NFO aims to unify several financial services ombud schemes under a single accredited structure to improve consistency, accessibility, and fairness for consumers.
Ombud institutions play a crucial role in the financial sector by providing accessible and affordable dispute resolution between consumers and financial institutions. They also serve as an accountability mechanism for the industry by addressing complaints related to administrative misconduct, abuse of power, and unfair practices.
The MBSE course examines the role of ombud institutions within South Africa’s financial services framework and analyses how principles emerging from key rulings can be translated into better business practices.
Van der Westhuizen says the course is expected to resonate particularly strongly with large financial services firms.
“There has been strong demand from large corporates with sizeable teams providing financial advice,” he says.
Practical CPD for a changing advisory environment
Together, the two new programmes reflect the growing need for CPD that addresses practical advisory challenges.
Van der Westhuizen says the goal is to help advisers move beyond theory and apply regulatory and market developments directly to their daily work with clients.
Advisers interested in the new CPD short courses can view them here:
More information about MBSE’s CPD offering is available at www.mbse.ac.za, or via email at help@mbse.ac.za.
