Will Tax Free Savings Achieve its Goal?
The announcement of this incentive, intended to promote savings, received a fair amount of media coverage. It will be interesting to see whether this continues, and what impact it will have on the […]
Industry News
Product supplier responsibility for advisers
Fais Circular 6 of 2013 announced the postponement of the Level 2 Regulatory Examination until further notice to allow the FSB to amend the qualifying criteria and investigate alternative delivery models in consultation with […]
Low Cost Medical Schemes Proposed
The Council for Medical Schemes (CMS) issued Circular 9 of 2015 on 13 February. The document invites comments on the proposed introduction of a Low Cost benefit Option (LCBO) Framework. The purpose of the framework is to […]
New FAIS Email Inboxes
FAIS Information Circular 11/2015 contains 7 new specific email addresses for queries to the FSB’s FAIS Department. It also contains a complete list of all FAIS email inboxes that the external stakeholders should […]
Is Conflict of Interest a Double-edged Sword?
Conflict of Interest (COI) was addressed in detail in Board Notice 58 of 2010. Broadly speaking, it aimed to address the provision of incentives like overseas trips and other “extras” with the potential […]
Tax Free Savings Approved
The final Notice and Regulations that allow for the introduction of Tax Free Savings and Investment Accounts (“TFSAs”) with effect from 1 March 2015 were approved by the Minister of Finance, according to a media […]
The Future of Market Conduct Regulation
In a recent article in Moneyweb Today, Patrick Bracher, a director of Norton Rose Fulbright is quoted as saying: “New financial advice regulation contained in the Retail Distribution Review (RDR) highlights the failure […]
Comparing Apples with Peaches
The Retail Distribution Review is the fourth in a series of documents which aim to address unsatisfactory outcomes for contractual savers. The December 2004 National Treasury Discussion Paper on Retirement Fund Reform appeared shortly […]
Advice Practices in Demand in Australia
We regularly receive enquiries from readers who are considering selling their practices. One of the big problems is establishing a fair value. This is normally determined by the turnover of the business, and […]
Integrating the Various Ombud Schemes
On 23 January, our article: Improving Internal Complaint Mechanisms discussed the proposed measures, contained under the draft Market Conduct Framework, to align your internal complaints management framework with the TCF outcomes. The same […]
F & I Training
We receive regular enquiries about people wanting to qualify to become “Finance and Insurance” (F & I) consultants in the motor industry. In order to become an F & I, one needs the […]
The Cost of Fixing Product Provider Problems
Your article on remuneration for different services made a lot of sense to me, and certainly deserves further discussion. As the IFA gets squeezed from all sides [extra work, less income & increased […]
Dissecting the Numbers
The figures published in the Retail Distribution Review discussion document provide a very clear picture of the current make-up of the industry in terms of market segmentation of advisors. In the past it […]
Who should pay the Piper?
While there is clarity on the existing remuneration system, which is essentially commission driven, proposals under the Retail Distribution Review aim to differentiate between various kinds of services, and establish fair remuneration for […]
Comment on “Material terms and Conditions”
In response to an article: “Disclosure of Material Terms” we published last week, a reader responded as follows: Dear Paul, No broker can possibly explain every single clause in a multi-page legal contract […]
TCF & Retail Distribution Review Update
A Draft “Market Conduct Framework” was published in December for comment. It contains the latest thinking by the Regulator on a number of key issues. The following is a synopsis of the rationale […]
Exemption date Extended
FAIS Notice 36 of 2014, which was published in May last year, exempted FSPs and representatives from complying with the following requirement in the FAIS Act: “A person may not render financial services […]
