SARS pays back R10bn, but some taxpayers’ refunds are being withheld

Taxpayers should inform SARS if they have been unemployed for a full year or longer, to avoid being flagged as non-compliant.

Does size matter?

In Case 1 discussed above, the Ombud also made the following statement: “The investigation further revealed that the respondent, in advising the complainant, had compared various financial products on the basis of a […]

Justice delayed?

We noted with great concern that there were delays of up to five years in resolving some complaints from the time the Office of the Ombud undertook to investigate the complaint. This was […]

Trends from Ombud Annual Report

The operational report from the FAIS Ombud in the 2015/2016 annual report, released on 18 November 2016, contains details of specific trends picked up in the period under review. Forex Investments A growing trend in […]

Liquidation of Saxum Insurance

On Friday, 28 October 2016, the FSB published a five page document to inform policyholders of the liquidated insurer and how this will affect them. Whilst most of the questions and answers deal […]

Silly Season is upon us

The Wikipedia definition reads: In Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, the silly season has come to refer to the Christmas/New Year festive period on account of the higher than usual number of […]

Representatives also at Risk

In a recent Ombud Determination (JJ & GH Carstens and Paarl Financial Advisors CC & JA Bartman) dated 12th October 2016, the Ombud made reference to the Appeal Board determination in the first (2013) appeal […]

Sign-on bonus and other Penalties

Section 3A of the General Code of Conduct came into operation on 4 December 2014. It decreed that “… No person may offer or provide a sign-on bonus to any person, other than a new […]

Application for Liquidation of Saxum Insurance

Should the FSB’s application be upheld, and this order is granted and made final, it will effectively mean that that any policyholder with a current claim will become a concurrent creditor of the […]

Insurer pays for Flawed Application Form

It is interesting to note that an insurer’s failure to provide for a key exclusionary clause resulted in payment of a claim it initially rejected. The most recent Short Term Ombudsman Briefcase contains […]

Levy Reminder

By now you should have received invoices for the FSB levy and one for the FAIS Ombud. If you have not, it may be that your contact details at the FSB are incorrect. […]

Nearly R1 billion in fraudulent claims thwarted

Claims fraud statistics for 2015 released in September by the Association for Savings and Investment South Africa (ASISA) reveal that while the number of cases of fraud and dishonesty uncovered almost halved (from […]

Reinsurance Regulatory Review Position Paper

This document, published on 9 September proposes to: Set out the final reforms on how to best achieve the objectives of insurance supervision, i.e. to promote the maintenance of a fair, safe and […]

Hospital Insurance and GAP Cover

The concern that the Medical Schemes Council (MSC) has with certain types of health insurance, stems from the underlying principles of specifically “Hospital” insurance. A recent article by Dr Bobby Ramasia, Principal Officer […]

Update on Registration of Hedge Funds

In February 2015, the Minister of Finance declared hedge funds as collective investment schemes with effect from 1 April 2015. All South African hedge fund operators were required to apply for registration in accordance with […]

Deadlines Revisited

A reader recently wrote: My query relates to the article headed “Qualification deadline at hand – 30 June 2016 is a very important date”. I understand that representatives appointed after 2010 has 6 years in […]

Council of Medical Schemes – New fees announced

In a recent communication from the Council of Medical Schemes: Amendments to Regulation 31 and 32 published in terms of the Medical Schemes Act 1998 (Act No. 131 of 1998) ), the following […]