If you found yourself scrambling to complete your CPD hours before the 31 May deadline, you’re not alone. Every year, a flurry of last-minute activity unfolds as key individuals and representatives rush to meet the Fit and Proper requirements. And while it may feel like a sigh of relief to have made the cut, the real question is: do you want to go through that stress again next year?
With the new CPD cycle having kicked off on 1 June, now is the ideal time to take control. Rather than leaving it to the final hour, you can spread your CPD activities out over the next 12 months by creating a manageable learning plan that aligns with your professional responsibilities and goals.
Under Board Notice 194 of 2017, CPD is a regulatory requirement – not a nice-to-have. It’s meant to enhance your competence, keep you up to date with industry changes, and reinforce professional and ethical standards. That means the CPD activities you choose should not only tick the compliance box but also support your continued growth as a financial services professional.
Moonstone Business School of Excellence (MBSE) makes that process a lot easier. As an accredited education provider with the Financial Planning Institute of Southern Africa and several other professional bodies, MBSE offers more than 60 online CPD courses starting from R130. These range from 0.5 to 12 CPD hours each.
Courses are grouped into four essential categories – Regulatory Environment, Ethics, Technical, and Business Skills – making it simple to find content that’s both relevant and engaging.
New additions for the current cycle include:
- CODI (4.5 CPD hours, Technical, R595): Explores the Corporation for Deposit Insurance, which came into effect on 1 April 2024 to protect depositors in the event of bank failure.
- Conduct Standard for Banks (4 CPD hours, Technical, R530): Provides key insights into the regulations governing banking conduct and operational standards.
- Feedback with Impact – Navigating Giving and Receiving Feedback (3.5 CPD hours, Business Skills, R460): Teaches essential techniques for giving and receiving feedback effectively – a must for leaders and teams aiming for high performance.
- FICA for Banks (4.5 hours, Ethics, R595): Offers a solid understanding of anti-money laundering obligations under South African law, tailored for banking professionals.
CPD subscription packages
For those with more intensive CPD needs – especially corporates or advisers with higher requirements – MBSE’s subscription packages offer excellent value. The Core Package (R1 750) grants access to the full CPD catalogue, while the Premium Package (R1 900) includes all CPD and Class of Business (COB) courses. That means you can complete as many courses as you need without worrying about extra costs.
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
Monique Brummer, the operations manager at MBSE, points out that a significant portion of the market doesn’t have to comply to CPD requirements; they’re exempt under BN 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 sub-category 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.
