By now you should have received a letter from the FSB advising details of the annual FSB and FAIS Ombud levies payable by the end of October. If you did not, it could mean that your contact details at the Regulator are incorrect.
The 2017 levy invoices will be mailed by 30 September 2017 and are payable by 31 October 2017. Please note that all authorised FSPs, in other words active FSPs on record at the Registrar’s office as at 31 August 2017, will be legally liable to pay levies.
Inform the FSB in writing if you have ceased to render financial services or have merged with another company, and send an email request to lapse your licence to genevieve.vandermerwe@fsb.co.za.
If you wish to retain your licence despite no longer operating, you are still liable to pay the annual levy.
It is also important to notify the Registrar in writing if you have a licence as a sole proprietor and hold another FSP licence in the name of a private company [(Pty) Ltd] and/or Close Corporation and you would like the sole proprietor license to lapse before 31 August 2017.
No licence will be lapsed unless a request for a lapse is submitted to the Registrar in writing.
Ensure that you have submitted the correct total value of investments under management, should you be authorised as a discretionary financial services provider (Category II FSP), hedge funds manager (Category IIA FSP) or Linked Investment Service Provider (Category III FSP).
“The Registrar has observed the continued practice of the removal of representatives by some FSPs from their respective registers before the levy calculation date (31 August) and the update of those registers with the same representatives after the said date. Such conduct, which is aimed at reducing the levies payable to this office, is viewed in a serious light by this Office, and will be monitored closely and can jeopardise the license of an FSP.”
The letter contains details of how the levies are calculated. If you feel an attack of masochism coming on, click here to use the Moonstone levy calculator for FSPs and Sole Props.
On a more positive note, “SARS has informed us that the levy amount paid by you to the FSB is a tax deductible expense.”
But wait, that’s not all – the FSB levy is 8% lower than last year.
See, and there you thought it was all bad news.
