It is time to clean up the mess
“When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading.” – Henny Youngman This reflects how I feel lately when scanning a variety of publications every day to stay abreast of […]
Treasury’s proposed unclaimed-assets model revives central fund debate
The framework separates administration from custody and investment and introduces a possible time limit on owners’ and beneficiaries’ claims.
Arresting the delisting trend is a top priority, says JSE
The JSE is considering a range of measures to address the trend of delistings from the market, including simplifying the financial disclosure requirements. At the exchange’s 2022 annual general meeting last week, Chris […]
Mom entitled to take ex-husband’s RA money for maintenance, says judge
A mother whose ex-husband owed her maintenance payments for their children was legally entitled to withdraw funds from his pension without giving him notice. This is the upshot of a ruling by Johannesburg […]
Moody’s forecasts 8% inflation in 2022
Headline inflation in South Africa will rise to about 8% this year, breaching the upper end of the South African Reserve Bank’s target band of 3% to 6%, according to a research report […]
Court upholds decision to cancel medical scheme membership based on non-disclosure
A decision by Profmed to terminate a membership retrospectively, on the grounds of material non-disclosure, went through all the Council for Medical Schemes’ appeal mechanisms and ended up in the Western Cape High […]
The pitfalls of using rules of thumb when planning for retirement
Each day, we are confronted with problems to solve and faced with hundreds of decisions that need to be made – some that can be taken on the fly and others that require […]
Adviser not liable for Sharemax investors’ loss, says tribunal
The Financial Services Tribunal (FST) has upheld a reconsideration application by an FSP whose clients invested in a Sharemax-managed property syndication scheme, saying his provision of inappropriate advice did not necessarily mean he […]
Compliance reports don’t have to be submitted this year
The FSCA has decided that compliance officers or FSPs will not have to submit compliance reports this year. This was also the case from 2019 to 2021. This was one of the announcements […]
How intermediaries can overcome client objections
When it comes to finance, we assume people are rational, so we give people more information and longer documents and explain the actuarial principles in the hope that they will result in their […]
FSCA reissues exemptions from competency requirements for certain licence categories
In February, the FSCA published FSCA Communication 4 announcing that it is exempting FSPs, key individuals and representatives who operate in the credit life and funeral insurance space from some of the Fit […]
Allianz and Sanlam in African joint venture
Sanlam and Europe’s largest insurer, Allianz, have agreed to combine their operations across Africa in a joint venture that will house the business units of both companies in the African countries where one […]
Preventing a cyber-attack and insuring against the resulting losses
A recent study titled “The State of Cybersecurity in South Africa” provides an update by the same research company that conducted similar research in 2019. Some of the findings then were quite scary, […]
Life insurers ‘need to rethink their underwriting’ to cope with increase in non-communicable diseases
The growing prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), coupled with an increase in the life expectancy of South Africans, means that life insurers need to rethink or innovate their underwriting processes. This is one […]
Ex-DG describes hostility between Zuma and Treasury
Former National Treasury director-general Lungisa Fuzile says President Jacob Zuma became increasingly unhappy with Pravin Gordhan and Nhlanhla Nene because they were unwilling to sign off on decisions that risked the fiscus and […]
Licensing requirements for trading in derivatives, including CFDs
Having a FAIS licence does not mean that a trading platform can issue over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives, including contracts for difference (CFDs), as principal in South Africa. To do this, the entity must have […]
Pension fund’s decision to permit withholding of withdrawal benefit upheld
A former Nedbank employee whose withdrawal benefit was withheld has failed to convince the Financial Services Tribunal (FST) to have the Pension Funds Adjudicator reconsider her decision to dismiss his complaint. At Nedbank’s […]
Separation does not disqualify a spouse from being a legal dependant
The Financial Services Tribunal has dismissed an application by a fund member’s daughter to have the allocation of her late father’s entire death benefit to her mother reconsidered on, among other grounds, that […]
