Tribunal upholds debarment over ‘ghost quotes’
The FST found that repeated creation of phantom quotes and unauthorised ITC checks breached honesty and integrity standards.
Compliance and Legislation
SCA: Retirement fund agreement for municipal staff is illegal
The majority finds the accreditation mechanism effectively coerced funds to amend their rules or risk losing employer contributions – undermining trustees’ fiduciary duties under the PFA.
Trustees now have ‘clear guidance’ on dependency and benefit allocations
Dependency is assessed at the member’s date of death, and trustees must conduct active investigations and apply a principled equitable allocation process.
Treasury publishes tax changes affecting pensions, trusts, and individuals
In addition to foreign pensions and trust income, the measures affect death benefits, child maintenance, capital distributions by unit trusts, and assessed losses.
VAT-registered schools may face cashflow shock
The proposed blanket exemptions for goods and services supplied by schools will force VAT-registered schools to deregister and lose input-tax recovery.
Draft NCA regulations widen credit-data scope and tighten affordability tests
An affordability assessment will require lenders to recognise revenue from commercial activity funded by credit and the potential realisation of assets.
FST upholds FSCA’s revocation after employer trustees excluded from vote
The Tribunal agrees with the Authority that the rule amendment was void because the employer-appointed trustees were asked to leave the meeting during the deliberations.
FSCA publishes comprehensive Conduct Standard for CIS managers
The Conduct Standard establishes mandatory risk, compliance and internal audit functions, plus notification and approval requirements for key appointments.
Free FIC webinars for accountable institutions in August
The sessions will cover institutions’ regulatory reporting obligations and establishing beneficial ownership.
Tribunal sets aside debarment of rep who failed a polygraph test
Polygraph testing alone cannot establish dishonest conduct; where the circumstantial evidence is weak or contradictory, debarment is a disproportionate sanction.
Accountable institutions must ensure they are correctly registered
Institutions that are wrongly registered as ‘business entities with a reporting obligation’ face being sanctioned by the FIC.
ConCourt clarifies scope of section 30P of the PFA proceedings
The Adjudicator breached audi alteram partem by making adverse findings about a Fund’s investigation without giving it a substantive opportunity to respond.
Apex court clarifies timing of dependency test for death benefit payouts
The Constitutional Court rules that whether someone qualifies as a dependant must be determined as at the date of a retirement fund member’s death, not when the fund decides how to distribute the benefit.
FSCA publishes final Conduct Standard for benefit administrators
A breakdown of the provisions that are in effect now, and those that come into operation in six or 12 months.
Funds must fully verify dependency before allocating a death benefit
The Constitutional Court finds that a fund relied on unverified, one-sided information and failed to establish the extent of factual dependency.
Tribunal dismisses N-e-FG executives’ ‘restorative justice offer’
In exchange for their admissions, they sought to substitute their debarments with an undertaking to repay R470m in client losses.
LRA Amendment Bill caps dismissal remedies for high-income earners
The proposed changes limit employees earning over R1.8m a year to compensation – capped at their annual salary – for unfair dismissal claims.
