With the current CPD cycle winding down and less than a month left, you can breathe easy knowing that Moonstone Business School of Excellence (MBSE) offers a diverse range of CPD courses to help you catch up on outstanding hours.
MBSE is a recognised CPD provider and offers programmes, including online courses, events, and publications, to assist FSPs, key individuals, and representatives in gaining the relevant CPD hours.
Priced from R57, MBSE’s offering of over 80 CPD courses can equip you with CPD hours ranging from 0.5 to 9.5, depending on the course selected. The courses are categorised to make it easier to choose the required activities. These categories include Regulatory Environment, Ethics, Technical, and Business Skills.
Monique Brummer, MBSE’s operations manager, points out a common trend: many people wait until the last minute as the CPD deadline approaches. She urges those who haven’t met their CPD requirements to make the most of the time remaining.
“MBSE students get immediate access to courses after payment if they pay by credit card. They can thus start working on their required CPD hours for the end of May deadline at any time,” says Brummer.
Flexible e-learning options
MBSE’s CPD courses stand out for their accessibility, offering flexible e-learning options that can be completed on a computer, tablet, or smartphone, anytime and anywhere.
Other features are:
- access to user-friendly, printable training material that is broken up into smaller units, supplemented with relevant multimedia content;
- access to MBSE’s helpdesk – queries are answered within three business days; and
- regular self-assessment to monitor progress.
Students can access and print their certificate once they have completed all the course activities and passed (at least 60%) the assessments.
What are the CPD requirements?
In terms of the Fit & Proper requirements (Board Notice 194 of 2017), CPD for regulatory purposes was officially implemented as a requirement. This means advisers are obliged to perform CPD activities towards regulatory CPD requirements during a CPD cycle, which is 12 months commencing on 1 June of every year and ending on 31 May of the following year.
An FSP, key individual, and representative must maintain the required competence to render the financial services for which he or she is authorised. To do this, they must comply with the minimum CPD requirements set out below.
The number of CPD hours required is determined by the make-up of the business.
In terms of BN 194, where employees render:
- a single subclass of business within a single class of business, they must complete a minimum of 6 hours of CPD activities per CPD cycle;
- more than one subclass of business within a single class of business, they must complete a minimum of 12 hours of CPD activities per CPD cycle; and
- more than one class of business they must complete a minimum of 18 hours of CPD activities per CPD cycle.
CPD subscription packages
MBSE also provides CPD subscription packages, particularly the Premium package, which are ideal for corporate FSPs that want to ensure their key individuals and representatives comply with the required CPD hours.
From an administrative point of view, MBSE offers the option of multiple bookings via a bulk registration process. This gives an FSP the freedom to register students monthly. (Terms and conditions, together with the signed service level agreement, apply.)
The manager’s dashboard allows the following:
- send coupons to candidates to activate their subscription;
- view candidates’ progress at any time;
- view and download reports;
- view and download candidates’ certificates; and
- create a corporate CPD/Class of Business planner.
Click here to choose a package that suits your needs.
Stay up to date
Brummer points out that a significant portion of the market doesn’t have to comply to CPD requirements; they’re exempt under Board Notice 194.
Employees who are specifically excluded from CPD training include:
- a Category I FSP, its key individuals, and representatives who render only financial services in respect of the financial products: Long-term Insurance subcategory A and/or Friendly Society Benefits; and
- a representative of a Category I FSP that is appointed to only render a financial service in respect of a Tier 2 financial product; and/or render an intermediary service in respect of a Tier 1 financial product.
“But our CPD courses are also a significant value-add for those reps. Staying ‘current’ with industry changes should be a priority for everyone, even if they do not have the imposed’ requirement,” says Brummer.
Contact help@mbse.ac.za for support with Corporate packages.
