Debarment – When can a FSP debar an ex-employee?
As a result of the right to appeal against a debarment decision, there was a substantial increase in debarment cases referred to the Tribunal since April 2018. In most of these cases the process […]
FSP
Why policyholders complained to the short-term ombudsman in 2023
‘Lack of maintenance or wear and tear’ gave rise to most of the disputes in several categories of insurance.
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Treating customers fairly – FSP shows commitment in recent Ombud settlement
“The Office of the FAIS Ombud is committed to resolving complaints in a procedurally fair, informal, economical and expeditious manner, with reference to what is equitable in all circumstances. In this vain, the […]
Withdrawal of debarment by FSP – Tribunal consent poses questions
“Unless debarment procedures are fair, reasonable and lawful, decisions taken to debar persons can be, and will be, overturned on technical grounds following an application to the Tribunal to reconsider any such decision”, […]
Non-disclosure of material terms – Costly omission by FSP
“The customer is always right” – a slogan that encourages especially service staff to give a high priority to customer satisfaction. In today’s testing economic times, and yesterday’s budget speech is testimony to […]
Tribunal Debarment decisions – Why the increase?
Over the last few months we have seen an increase in debarment cases placed before the Financial Services Tribunal for reconsideration. Why? Has there been an increase in debarments? Has many of these […]
FAIS Cat I and II licences
We are aware that there is fair amount of concern in the industry about where the regulator is heading in this regard. The following are some of the points for discussion at the […]
Bulk transfers by FSPs and Insurers
This is the title of an article in the FSB’s FAIS Newsletter 20, which also addresses the shortcomings mentioned at the conclusion of the article above. In instances where the transfer of clients resulted […]
Annual Financial Statements Reminder
The majority of FSPs have a financial year end of February. For them, it means that the 2016 financial statements need to be submitted by 30 June this year. Full details are contained in […]
Authentication of RE Certificates
We often receive queries from employers regarding the validity of RE certificates produced by prospective applicants. This is indeed wise, as we are aware of instances where people fraudulently replicate documents by means […]
Levy Deadline for Rep Register
The FSB and FAIS Ombud levies are calculated on the status of your FSP as at 31 August every year. Any changes to the rep register must be conveyed to the FSB within 15 days. […]
Real Restitution
In the space of the last eight weeks we saw seven determinations against one FSP, and it is likely that there is more to come. The total in fines meted out by the […]
Debarments Contested in Court
The headache around the lack of proper procedure by FSPs when debarring representatives appears to be continuing, despite clear guidelines from the Regulator. In the FSB’s first quarterly bulletin of 2014, the problem […]
FSP Due Diligence Responsibilities
On Monday, we briefly outlined the background to the first complaint against an advisor who invested client funds in Herman Pretorius’s Relative Value Arbitrage Fund. In his response to the complaint, the advisor […]
Reinstatement of Debarred Key Individuals
I was recently approached by an ex key individual who was debarred by the FSB in response to information supplied by the bank who previously employed him. The reason for the debarment was […]
Exemption to Submit Audited Financial Statements
Certain FSPs received a request from the FSB for additional information regarding their financial statements which, for most FSPs, are due by the end of this month. Category I FSPs who are registered […]
Duty to Disclose Material Terms
On Tuesday we discussed what happens when material changes occur in a client’s health between the time of applying for life cover and acceptance of the risk by the insurer. My colleague Julian […]
