With only four days remaining before the 31 May CPD deadline – and only two remaining office-support days – Moonstone Business School of Excellence (MBSE) is urging financial services professionals with outstanding hours to avoid leaving compliance to the final weekend.
According to Willem van der Westhuizen, business development manager at MBSE, the remaining window is now less about long-term planning and more about acting practically and immediately.
“At this stage, professionals need to think about how quickly they can access courses, how many hours they still need, and whether they will still be able to get assistance if they encounter administrative or access issues,” he says.
MBSE says professionals who enrol online using a credit card receive immediate access to their selected courses, allowing them to begin working on outstanding hours within minutes.
This becomes increasingly important as the deadline approaches.
The institution also notes that student and CPD support remains available only during office hours, with support available until Friday, 29 May.
“The last thing professionals want is to run into an administrative or access query late on a Sunday evening with very little time remaining,” says Van der Westhuizen.
A wide range of course options
MBSE, a recognised CPD provider, offers more than 60 CPD courses across categories including Regulatory Environment, Ethics, Technical, and Business Skills.
Depending on the course selected, professionals can complete anywhere from 1 to 13 CPD hours, allowing advisers, representatives, key individuals, and FSPs to select combinations based on both their outstanding hours and their professional focus areas.
Van der Westhuizen says the final days before the deadline are often less about finding “any” CPD hours and more about finding practical combinations that fit realistically into the time still available.
Some professionals may need only a short one-hour or two-hour course to complete their cycle, while others may still need larger technical or regulatory modules.
Shorter courses for quicker progress
For professionals looking to make immediate progress, MBSE offers several shorter online courses that can be completed in one to two hours. These include:
- Effective Communication Skills (1 CPD)
- Getting to Know POPIA (1 CPD)
- Getting to Know FICA (1.5 CPD)
- Getting to Know FICA isiXhosa (1.5CPD)
- How to Manage Your Time Effectively (1.5 CPD)
- Protecting Your Information (2 CPD)
- How to Service and Retain Customers (2 CPD)
- How to Manage Conflict of Interest (2 CPD)
MBSE says these shorter courses are particularly useful for professionals who are close to completing their annual requirement and only need a few additional hours.
Banking, technical, and compliance-focused options
The institution has also seen strong interest in banking and technical compliance-related courses this cycle.
Banking-focused courses include:
- CODI (4.5 CPD)
- Conduct Standard for Banks (4CPD)
- FICA for Banks (4.5 CPD)
- Advice on Banking Products Subject to FAIS (3.5 CPD)
Technical and compliance-focused options include:
- Understanding FICA (5CPD)
- Managing FICA (9.5 CPD)
- Refresher Long-term Insurance (13 CPD)
- The Ombud: Key Cases and Lessons (5CPD)
Van der Westhuizen says conduct, governance, customer outcomes, anti-money laundering obligations, and operational compliance continue to remain important focus areas across the industry.
Specialised and practical advisory topics
MBSE has also expanded its offering of specialised CPD topics aligned to changing industry realities.
Among the newer additions is Cryptocurrency & Digital Assets for Financial Advisors (7 CPD), which was developed in response to the additional CPD requirements linked to crypto asset advice.
The course focuses on the practical integration of digital assets into financial planning and advisory environments.
Another increasingly popular option is The Ombud: Key Cases and Lessons (5 CPD), which examines real ombud rulings and complaints to identify where advisers and businesses often encounter governance, disclosure, communication, or conduct-related failures.
Not all CPD needs to feel like compliance training
MBSE says there has also been growing interest in courses focused on communication, productivity, customer engagement, and workplace effectiveness.
Courses such as Feedback with Impact: Navigating Giving and Receiving Feedback (3.5 CPD), How to Manage Your Time Effectively (1.5 CPD), and How to Service and Retain Customers (2 CPD) focus on practical workplace and client-engagement skills rather than purely regulatory content.
Van der Westhuizen says many professionals increasingly want CPD that supports day-to-day advisory and operational effectiveness in addition to meeting compliance requirements.
Flexible completion options
MBSE says one of the advantages of its online platform is that larger courses can also be completed incrementally, unit by unit, allowing professionals to work around operational commitments during the final days before the deadline.
The institution’s courses are accessible on computers, tablets, and smartphones, allowing students to complete learning activities from almost anywhere.
Students also receive access to printable learning material, multimedia-supported content, self-assessment tools, and – once course requirements have been completed successfully –downloadable certificates
Professionals can access courses individually through the online platform or through MBSE’s subscription model, with immediate online access available after card payment.
More information about MBSE’s CPD offering is available via email at help@mbse.ac.za.
