The FSCA has told retirement funds to submit up-to-date information about their trustees so it can take regulatory action against trustees have not completed the new Trustee Training Toolkit (TTK).
The Authority launched the first phase of the new TTK on 26 September last year.
RF Notice 21 of 2023 stipulated the deadlines for trustees to complete the first 11 modules. Trustees appointed on or before 26 September 2023 were given six months from 27 September 2023 to complete the first phase of the modules. Trustees appointed or elected after 26 September 2023 had to complete the first 11 modules within six months of their appointment or election.
The second phase, the next 11 modules of the 22-module TTK, was released on 28 March this year.
A significant number of trustees experienced difficulties in accessing the FSCA’s eLearning portal to complete. Therefore, when the Authority announced the launch of phase two, it also extended the deadline to complete the first 11 modules.
In terms of RF Notice 5 of 2024, trustees who were appointed on or before 28 March 2024 were given until 30 September 2024 to complete the first 11 modules.
The deadlines for completing modules 12 to 22 were stated in RF Notice 6 of 2024:
- Trustees who were appointed on or before 28 March 2024 had to complete the second modules within six months from the date of publication of Notice 6, which was 28 March 2024.
- Board members appointed or elected after 28 March 2024 must complete modules 12 to 22 within six months from the date of appointment or election.
Read together, Notices 5 and 6 meant that trustees who came into office on or before 28 March 2024 had to complete all 22 modules by 30 September this year.
The new TTK must be completed by all members of retirement fund boards irrespective of whether they completed the initial (old) TTK.
The Authority warned that trustees who do not complete the TKK will face regulatory action.
The FSCA now wants to find out whether trustees have complied with Notices 5 and 6.
To this end, it issued Information Request 3 of 2024 (RF) on 9 October. In it, the FSCA asks principal officers or administrators to submit up-to-date information about fund trustees, including their date of appointment.
“This information will enable the Authority to take appropriate regulatory action against non-compliant trustees. It is the Authority’s intention to publish a list of non-compliant trustees’ names following receipt of the requested information as a first step,” said deputy commissioner Astrid Ludin.
The information must be entered on the Excel spreadsheet accompanying the request and submitted to the FSCA by 6 November by emailing Jodine.Scholtz@fsca.co.za
Failing to provide the specified information by the deadline is an offence under section 37 of the Pension Funds Act and section 267 of the Financial Sector Regulation Act.
For more information about Information Request 3 of 2024, email Zareena Camroodien at Zareena.Camroodien@fsca.co.za.
