This exam was announced some time ago, with timelines on the FSB website given as follows:
- Trials would be run in October and November 2011
- January 2012 would see the exams, drawn up by SAIFM, being piloted, with the roll-out “shortly thereafter”.
It appears that there is a hitch.
The SAIFM website contains the following announcement:
SAIFM has withdrawn as an examining body for the FSB Regulatory Examinations with effect from 31 May 2012.
This would explain the lack of progress in making this exam available.
The FSB published a Preparation Guide on its website. Questions were asked about the lack of mapping to the relevant legislation, which were added to the other preparation guides for RE 1 and RE 5, for instance.
It appears that such mapping is the responsibility of the body drawing up the questions. It is not yet clear whether responsibility for this task has been delegated to another body.
While we await further news, internal and external compliance officers can use the preparation guide as a means of establishing whether they are covering all their bases. It contains the latest qualifying criteria, which is the road map to all the prescribed functions and responsibilities required from a compliance officer.
The good news for sole proprietors is that they do not have to write this exam.
