The Financial Sector Conduct Authority’s latest three-year Regulation Plan places the pending Conduct of Financial Institutions Bill at the centre of a broad regulatory programme running to March 2029.
Published on 3 July 2026, the Regulation Plan reviews the FSCA’s progress against its 2025 regulatory programme and sets out the projects it intends to pursue over the next three years. These include COFI-related themed frameworks, the review of the Financial Markets Act (FMA), financial markets standards, cross-sector joint standards, reforms affecting retirement funds and collective investment schemes, and strategic focus areas such as sustainable finance, open finance, artificial intelligence (AI), data risk, and the transition from JIBAR to ZARONIA.
The plan covers the period 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2029. The FSCA describes the Regulation Plan as a rolling three-year framework, reviewed and updated annually to ensure it remains relevant, responsive to emerging risks, and aligned with the Authority’s strategic objectives.
COFI remains the central regulatory reform
In a statement accompanying the Regulation Plan, the FSCA describes the pending introduction of the COFI Bill as the most significant legislative development in South Africa’s financial sector regulatory history in recent years. It says the Bill is expected to reshape the regulatory landscape by moving away from fragmented, rules-based regulation towards a harmonised, outcomes- and principles-based framework.
The Minister of Finance published a notice of the Bill’s introduction to the National Assembly in the Government Gazette on 17 April 2026. Once the Bill is tabled in Parliament, the FSCA will provide technical support to National Treasury to support parliamentary deliberations.
The Regulation Plan indicates that much of the FSCA’s future conduct-regulation work will be developed through, or alongside, the COFI transition. The Authority says the development of a holistic, cross-sector, robust, and customer-focused regulatory framework under the Bill remains a top priority.
Work on Phase 2 of the COFI transition will continue throughout 2026/27, with public consultation expected to begin on high-priority themed frameworks. The themed frameworks identified in the plan include fit and proper requirements, risk management, internal controls and control functions, complaints management, and governance. These frameworks will be introduced on a staggered basis.
The plan also records that the FSCA has started a broader project focused on COFI Bill readiness, with further details to follow once its communication strategy has been finalised.
The FSCA says the volume of legislative interventions is expected to become significantly less frequent after the COFI transition project has been finalised, because the future framework is intended to be more outcomes- and principles-based.
The importance of COFI is reflected in several of the sector-specific sections of the plan. The FSCA notes that some projects are dependent on the Bill, while others may be shaped by COFI-themed frameworks or by the transition of existing sectoral laws into the new framework.
Conduct regulation: sector work continues
The plan sets out conduct-regulation projects affecting specific sectors.
No insurance- or FAIS-specific interventions are earmarked for completion within the next three years. However, the plan makes clear that this does not place these sectors outside the reform programme: insurance- and FAIS-related matters will instead be considered as part of the transition of existing sectoral laws into the COFI framework.
For banks, mutual banks, co-operative banks, and co-operative financial institutions, the FSCA and the Prudential Authority (PA) will focus on refining draft standards applicable to co-operative financial institutions and co-operative banks. The exact approach must still be agreed, partly because other projects – including the Joint Standard on Governance and the themed framework on risk management, internal controls, and control functions – may affect the standards.
In the collective investment schemes environment, no new CIS-related projects have been added to the 2026 plan. Two projects have been finalised and removed: the conduct standard on requirements for CIS managers and the determination relating to foreign collective investment schemes soliciting investments in South Africa.
Work that remains includes the review of Board Notice 90 of 2014, Board Notice 52 of 2015, and Board Notice 573 of 2003; the development of a CIS accounting framework; the review of the Pro-forma Deed for CISs; and interim amendments to Board Notice 90. Several of these projects have dependencies on COFI or other CIS regulatory framework developments.
The plan also retains work on a fit-for-purpose framework for alternative investment funds. Promulgation of that framework remains dependent on the COFI Bill, with further technical work to continue during 2026/27 and public consultation earmarked for 2027/28.
For retirement funds, no new projects have been added. Two projects have been finalised and removed: the conduct standard on conditions prescribed for pension fund benefit administrators, and the prudential standard on regulatory reporting requirements and annual financial statements for pension funds.
The remaining retirement fund work includes Regulation 28 quarterly reporting requirements for pension funds, requirements relating to the liquidation of pension funds, and the draft conduct standard on conditions for living annuities in an annuity strategy. Regulation 28 reporting is expected in the first half of 2026/27.
The FSCA is also still considering possible reviews or interventions relating to Directive 8, Pension Fund Circulars 86 and 90, employer environment practices, and pension or retirement fund costs and fees.
On payment services, a concept framework was developed during 2025/26. The coming year will focus on finalising a draft for public consultation, but further discussions must first be held with the National Payment System Department of the South African Reserve Bank on approach, sequencing, and related matters.
Financial markets regulation remains on the agenda
The FSCA will continue to support National Treasury in finalising the review of the FMA, including technical support in finalising the Bill for public consultation and support during the consultation process.
No new financial markets-related projects have been added to the 2026 Regulation Plan, although some recent projects remain under consideration. The three projects relating to Phase 2 of the Joint Roadmap for Development of a Regulatory Framework for Central Clearing in South Africa have been finalised and no longer appear in the plan.
Phase 3 of the central clearing roadmap is ongoing. This phase focuses on establishing eligibility criteria for central clearing and, ultimately, mandating the central clearing of certain over-the-counter derivative transactions. The FSCA intends to publish a discussion document for public consultation in 2026/27 and begin technical work on developing a joint standard.
Other financial markets projects carried forward include capital and risk management requirements for non-bank over-the-counter derivative providers, benchmark regulation, market infrastructure requirements, recovery plans for market infrastructures, short-sale reporting and public disclosure, securities financing transactions, requirements for credit rating agencies, and amendments to Conduct Standard 3 of 2018 on OTC derivatives reporting obligations.
The document also identifies possible new financial markets projects that are still under consideration. These relate to risk management practices for market infrastructures, nominee approval processes under section 76 of the FMA, and requirements for the appointment of auditors for market infrastructures. The Regulation Plan will be revised once formal decisions are taken on these matters.
Cross-sector standards receive renewed focus
Some of the most prominent projects in the plan are not confined to a single sector. The FSCA carries forward several cross-cutting or sector-wide projects from the 2025 Regulation Plan, including the Joint Standard on Governance, which it describes as a top priority because governance forms the bedrock of financial sector regulation.
The plan also records continued work on a Conduct Standard Regarding Industry Practices and Treatment of Lost Accounts and Unclaimed Assets. This work has been delayed because of competing priorities, but the FSCA says it will receive renewed focus in 2026/27.
Another continuing project is the Joint Standard on Requirements Relating to Beneficial Owners. The FSCA says this project is becoming increasingly important because of ongoing efforts to address findings from the Financial Action Task Force’s mutual evaluation review of South Africa.
The roadmap also includes cross-sector licensing requirements in anticipation of COFI and a Joint Standard on Requirements Relating to Third-Party Service Provision, or outsourcing. The outsourcing standard is aimed at harmonising and strengthening requirements relating to third-party service provision.
Two areas that were previously highlighted as strategic focus areas have now been included as formal outputs in the 2026 plan: a Draft Joint Standard on Operational Risk and Resilience Requirements and a Draft Joint Standard on Cloud Computing and Offshoring of Data.
Sustainable finance, AI, data risk, and benchmark transition
The plan’s section on other strategic focus areas deals with issues where regulatory responses are expected to evolve as policy work matures.
On sustainable finance, the FSCA records progress with its sustainable finance programme, particularly in relation to market integrity, reliable sustainability information, and fair consumer outcomes. Possible regulatory framework interventions include sustainability-related claims, public corporate disclosure or reporting aligned to the global baseline set by the International Sustainability Standards Board, carbon credit markets, ESG rating services, and ESG data product providers.
On open finance, the FSCA is working with members of the Intergovernmental Fintech Working Group, under National Treasury’s guidance, towards an Open Finance Policy Position for South Africa. The outcome of the open finance work programme is likely to result in legislative interventions, subject to prioritisation and a phased approach.
The FSCA and PA are also continuing work on AI. Following their report on AI in the South African financial sector, the authorities have initiated further research and intend to formulate a discussion paper that will include stakeholder engagement on key regulatory and supervisory questions. High-level governance principles relating to the use of AI by financial institutions are also intended to be included in the Joint Standard on Culture and Governance requirements.
The plan identifies data management and data risk as another area of focus. The FSCA and PA are setting up formal structures to begin technical work, although the exact nature of any intervention – such as a regulatory instrument or guidance – must still be considered.
On benchmark reform, the document records that the SARB, as administrator of JIBAR and ZARONIA, has announced the planned cessation of JIBAR on 31 December 2026. The FSCA says it will continue to support National Treasury in developing legislative amendments and will take regulatory actions within its mandate to support a smooth, fair, and responsible transition from JIBAR to ZARONIA.
The plan also refers to the transition of prudential regulation of retirement funds, collective investment schemes, and friendly societies to the PA. It notes that the Minister of Finance extended the transition date for these sectors to 31 March 2028.
Consultation and sequencing
The FSCA says the Regulation Plan remains a tool for managing and sequencing regulatory reform, providing transparency on its priorities, facilitating co-ordination across regulatory stakeholders, and enabling the sector to plan for forthcoming developments.
It also acknowledges the cumulative impact of legislative reform on the financial sector. The 2026 plan therefore seeks, where possible, to limit the introduction of new regulatory projects, sequence reforms carefully, and use consultation and phased implementation to support industry readiness.
The Authority encouraged stakeholders to participate in consultation processes as regulatory projects progress over the next three years.
Click here to download the 2026 Regulation Plan.
