We regularly receive enquiries from readers about Cambist, who offers a return of 19.5% on investments. For all practical purposes, it appears that they act as an aggregator between the public and certain investment opportunities.
We took a look at their website and found the following information:
Cambist offers two products: (click on this link for an explanation of how it works)
- Active Debt Contracts and
- Cell phone Financing Contracts
The following is copied from the Q & A section on their website.
Concerning the need to register with one or more regulator, the following information is provided in the Q & A section on its website:
Is OneLaw/Cambist registered with the FSB?
No. Any person providing or rendering financial services must be licensed as a financial services provider (‘FSP’). These services include the giving of advice or intermediary services and must be in respect of a financial product.
Loans, debt or financing agreements are not viewed as financial products. Loans are regulated by the National Credit Act and are not financial products as defined by FAIS.
Cambist also does not sell anything, since it holds no ownership in the contracts on the platform. Cambist merely facilitates the buying and selling of financial agreements.
There is thus no obligation for OneLaw or Cambist to be registered with the FSB in terms of FAIS.
Is OneLaw/Cambist registered with the National Credit Regulator?
In terms of the National Credit Act, neither OneLaw nor Cambist needs to be registered with the National Credit Regulator, since it does not sell any credit products of its own.
Naturally the credit providers / sellers of the debt contracts have to be registered with the National Credit Regulator at the time when the loan was originated.
Is OneLaw/Cambist registered in terms of the Bank Act?
Neither OneLaw nor Cambist conducts the business of a bank, so there is no requirement to be registered in terms of the Banks Act.
The whole issue of “aggregators” is currently being reviewed by the FSB as part of the Retail Distribution Review and Insurance Laws Amendment Bill.
