You have only 18 days left as we approach the end of the Continuous Professional Development (CPD) cycle and the deadline for the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services (FAIS) CPD, which is 31 May 2021. Although the current cycle commenced on 1 June 2020, Section 2(1) and 2(2) of FSCA FAIS Notice 22 of 2020 […]
“One of SA’s big five banks has been censured for practising “deception” in advertising for its rewards programme,” according to an article in the Sunday Times. The bank’s scheme offered “up to R5 back” per litre of fuel bought at a certain filling station. In a ruling by the Advertising Regulatory Board, it was ordered […]
On Friday, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) published a draft declaration of crypto assets as financial products. “Globally there is rapid growing interest by retail investors to purchase crypto assets. South Africa has also experienced an exponential increase in the provision and use of crypto assets,” the FSCA acknowledged. According to the FSCA, the […]
The Office of the FAIS Ombud often receives complaints related to alleged unfair rejection of claims. One of the latest deals with the calculation of a waiting period that may be imposed in a funeral policy. Unpacking funeral cover waiting periods When applying for a funeral policy, no medical underwriting is conducted by the insurer […]
The FSCA has released the following Notices: 1. FSCA FAIS Notice 68 of 2020 Amendment of Exemption of Certain FSPs who are Long-term Insurers or Short-term Insurers from Section 13 of the General Code of Conduct, 2020. The purpose of the above-mentioned amendment is to extend the Exemption of Certain FSPs who are Long-term Insurers […]
Draft Public Compliance Communication No. 12A (PCC 12A) that provides guidance on outsourcing of compliance activities to third parties, has raised a few questions. Carolee Reyneke-Minnaar of Moonstone Compliance provides some clarity on one. PCC states the following with regards to outsourcing of a compliance function: “7.1. Section 42A of the FIC Act requires that […]
As a result of the COVID 19 virus, the Office of the FAIS Ombud has also implemented measures to limit the spread of the virus in an effort to protect both employees and external stakeholders. All non-essential face to face meetings have been cancelled and any essential stakeholder engagements have been moved online. In a […]
The abhorrent practise of submitting a single premium investment as a recurring premium policy to earn a substantially higher commission is nothing new. If you then, in addition, destroy documentary evidence in the hope that you will not be found out, you should expect dire consequences. An even worst-case scenario: if you repeat such a […]
During the financial year the OFO received a total of 9323 new complaints, a reduction of 8.7% from the 10 211 received during the 2017/2018 financial year. However, the OFO finalised 9954 complaints, 6.8% more than the total amount received during the financial year. This is of course as a result of complaints carried over from […]
The Office of the FAIS Ombud (“OFO”) released its Annual Report for the year 2018/2019 last week, providing a review of its performance over this period. During the financial year the OFO received a total of 9323 new complaints. The report indicates that there was an increase in the number of complaints settled or resolved […]
