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.

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Future Approach to Market Conduct Supervision

A presentation at the FSB Insurance Regulatory Seminar provided practical insight into what we can expect from market conduct supervision when the new regulatory body is in place. We are rapidly approaching the […]

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Taxation Laws Amendment Bill

The announcement of changes in the tax treatment of provident funds led to a flurry of resignations and withdrawals from members of such funds who feared that their ability to withdraw all their […]

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Hakuna Matata

The Italian word “Andante” features in one of ABBA’s classic songs. Dictionaries define it as “a moderately slow” movement, usually in music. Closer to home, there is also a Swahili term, Pole-pole, which […]

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Costly FICA Transgression

The latest Enforcement Committee order, against a stockbroking firm, should act as a warning to all financial services providers to ensure that they comply with the requirements of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act […]

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Contradictory Interpretations

The latest issue of the Short-term “Ombudsman’s Briefcase” contains an interesting case which highlights again the difficulty of complying with varying interpretations by overseeing bodies. We recently commented on two FAIS Ombud determinations […]

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Industry Opportunities and Challenges

Earlier this year, Insight Discovery, a Middle East based strategic research company, in conjunction with Moonstone Information Refinery, conducted the first South African Investment Panorama survey. The purpose of the exercise was to […]

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Lessons from Overseas

It is good to know that most local authorities follow developments overseas very carefully while transforming the industry, and consult widely. Three recent reports from Australia are of importance to the local industry. […]

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The psychology of investing in volatile times

Market volatility is something we are all accustomed to, but recent events have made investors more jittery than usual. China’s ‘Black Monday’ wiped hundreds of billions off the world’s financial markets last month […]

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New Perspectives on RDR proposals

During the recent SAIFM conference, the FSB provided input on its views on feedback received from the industry to the 55 proposals contained in the discussion document. There was general support for the […]

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A Pre-emptive Market Conduct Regulator

A presentation by the FSB at the second SAIFM Regulatory Conference covered some very interesting agenda points Mention is made of four shortcomings of the current regulatory approach: It is said to be […]

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Fate Happens

Life is fickle and unpredictable. This statement is born out again by a recent Ombud determination concerning the switching of life cover from one assurer to another. The clients, both husband and wife, […]

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Improving Internal Complaints Mechanisms

This article was first published in January 2015. In view of recent discussions about the importance of this function under the proposed new Market Conduct Framework, we republish it in abbreviated format to […]

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Unintended Consequences

Twenty one years on, and our fledgling democracy is still in the process of adapting to the real, modern world. Quite often, legislation is enacted with the best of intentions, only to achieve […]

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