Investors demand justice as alleged ‘Ponzi mastermind’ remains free

Victims of the Classic Financial Services scheme express dismay that director Cobus Geldenhuis remains at large amid ongoing accusations of defrauding innocent investors.

Unregulated Schemes

In a media release, issued on 27 May 2015, Caroline da Silva, the Deputy Executive Officer for FAIS at the FSB warns the public against conducting business with schemes before verifying whether it […]

Short-term Ombud Annual Report

This publication reveals some interesting statistics: The total number of complaints received amounted to 10 253, an increase of 9.5% over the previous year. Complaints unresolved after six months totalled only 54 at […]

2015 Levies Published

Board Notice 101 of 2015 contains details of the levies payable by 31 October 2015: Levy on Category I and IV FSPs: Base amount of R3 391 Fee of R542 per KI/Rep Levy on Category II, […]

Approved Specimen Mandate Amendments

FAIS Newsletter 16, published in December 2013, contains the following information: Sections 5.4 of the Administrative Code of Conduct and 5.2, 5.3 of the Discretionary Code of Conduct deal with the approval of […]

Hidden Costs of Compliance

Where you find the laws most numerous, there you will find also the greatest injustice, said the ancient Greek philosopher, Arcesilaus. If we were to publish a list of all legislation pertaining to […]

New Disclosure Regulations for Collective Investment Schemes

Board Notice 92 of 2014 comes into effect on 1 May 2015. It contains new disclosure requirements for advertising and marketing material in respect of collective investment schemes. It also places specific obligations on advisers […]

Claim Rejection Overturned

Mr. W. (insured) submitted a complaint against his insurer, Dial Direct Insurance, in respect of a vehicle hijacking incident. The insurer rejected the claim on the basis that Mr. W. did not provide […]

Morningstar to assist FSB in CIS Monitoring

As a result of the rapidly changing nature of the financial services landscape in South Africa, the FSB is implementing a new system to ensure that it is able to effectively monitor the […]

Debarment Process under Review

The Financial Sector Regulation Bill (FSRB) is a huge document comprising 17 chapters, 242 sections and is 136 pages long. There are, in addition, 4 schedules and 70 pages of proposed amendments or […]

Due Diligence and the Financial Adviser

Section 2 of the General Code of Conduct requires that ‘a provider must at all times render financial services honestly, fairly, with due skill, care and diligence, and in the interests of the […]

FSB takes Action on Sign on Bonuses

Scarcely a week after announcing its intent to investigate the impact of sign-on bonuses on churning, the Regulator called for a special compliance report to be completed by FSPs registered as Long-term insurers. […]

Licence Application Assistance

We are experiencing a noticeable increase in enquiries from the industry for assistance with licence applications. The documentation and supplementary information required by the FSB in order to assess such applications have become […]

FSB Addresses Churning

Up front bonuses, offered by insurance companies to entice financial advisers to leave their current insurer and join another, were prohibited by the Financial Services Board in December 2014. In a media release on […]

POPI Essentials

We recently came across a very useful summary of what one can expect when POPI becomes a reality. The latest newsletter from attorneys, Van der Spuy & Partners of Thom Street, Paarl and […]

Debarment Problems Persist

Despite warnings and guidelines from the Regulator, it appears that personal vendettas are in some instances a stronger driver than legal obligations. I received the following enquiry from a reader on 7 March: […]

Hedge Fund Regulation Published

The National Treasury and Financial Services Board issued a media release on 5 March 2015 to inform the industry of the signed Declaration Notice from the Minister of Finance and the final Determination from the […]