Deadline for financial sector B-BBEE compliance reports

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The Financial Sector Transformation Council (FSTC) has given entities operating in the financial sector until 12 August to submit their broad-based black economic empowerment (B-BBEE) compliance reports for 2020/21.

Section 10(4) of the B-BBEE Act requires enterprises operating in a sector in respect of which the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition has issued a code of good practice to report annually on their B-BBEE compliance to the council established for that sector.

In Reporting Notice 1 of 2022, published on 24 May, the FSTC said all financial sector entities must report on their progress in implementing the provisions of the Financial Sector Code (FSC) for the period 1 December 2020 to 20 November 2021.

Generic Entities are required to submit a B-BBEE verified certificate, a B-BBEE verified scorecard and a completed Detailed Summary Data document – click here to download it.

Qualifying Small Financial Institutions (QSFIs) – entities with a total annual revenue of more than R10 million but less than R50m – and Exempted Micro-Enterprises (EMEs) – those with a total annual revenue of up to R10m – must submit a sworn affidavit. The template can be downloaded here from the FSTC website.

Generic Entities, QSFIs and EMEs must also submit a completed CEO Survey, which can be downloaded here.

The FSTC said QSFIs that are not Level 1 or Level 2 must obtain a verification certificate to confirm their B-BBEE status.

The above-mentioned documents must be submitted electronically by the close of the business on Friday, 12 August. They must be uploaded to the Dropbox link https://www.dropbox.com/request/YYZggWgIZT3BwJrh4AP5, with the folder named “FSTC 2020/21 Reporting – (name of entity)”.

The FSTC said it would treat all the information supplied with the strictest confidence.

Entities encountering difficulties in submitting the requested information should contact the FSTC at reporting@fstc.org.za or 011 838 6696.

In terms of the FSC, the FSTC can name entities that do not submit reports.

In addition, an entity that does not submit the required annual reports will be subject to the discounting principle. This means the entity will automatically drop one B-BBEE level in the next rating following the year in which the entity failed to report.