With December 2021 now upon us and everyone planning their rest and relaxation, it’s a worthy chance to catch our breath, celebrate and appreciate the year that has been.
As with the past years, 2021 has been challenging for most South Africans! Yet, we seem to continue forward every day with a deeply rooted resilience in our culture.
To reflect on some of the important industry changes and plan for the year ahead, we have set out some important compliance matters dealt with during the year and what we can expect in 2022.
2021 FSCA: Request for information relating to profiles of licensed financial institutions – *STILL DUE AT TIME OF WRITING*
The FSCA, on 11 October 2021, issued Information Request 2 of 2021 in terms of the Financial Sector Regulation Act (9 of 2017). The verification and updating of information must be completed by FSP’s on or before 15 December 2021.
Failure to comply with this request constitutes an offence.
Should you request assistance with completing the RFI, please contact us, and we will gladly assist further here.
2021 FAIS Financials and Levies
Those FSPs who have not yet submitted their financials or paid their annual levies, please note that the FSCA may start issuing suspension notices where the FSPs have not complied with the submission of the annual financial statement or payment of the 2021 levies.
2021 Fica Training
Refresher training is an ongoing requirement under FICA; Financial Services Providers, as accountable institutions, must provide employees with annual Fica training relevant to their Fica Risk and Compliance Management Program at a minimum annually.
Should Fica Training have not been provided by the FSP, please contact us to assist with online training for you and your team.
2021/2022 Continuous Professional Development
This is a friendly reminder of the CPD deadline date of 31 May 2022 and that this year (CPD Cycle), the normal 18 hours of CPD activity applies. CPD must be done regularly, thus avoiding the 11th-hour CPD rush.
Fit and Proper Competency Requirements
FSPs must have the necessary processes and measures in place to manage representatives’ competency requirements. This includes competency registers.
2020/2021 Amended General Code of Conduct
Making certain changes to the General Code of Conduct came to an end with the final amendments published on 26 June 2020. Some of the provisions come into effect immediately, while others only start 6 or 12 months from the publication date (i.e. 26 December 2020 or 26 June 2021).
Regarding the General Code, the FSCA amended, among other things, (i) the disclosure and approval requirements regarding fees for rendering financial services, (ii) requirements relating to the advertisement of financial products and services by providers, and (iii) requirements relating to the establishment and operation of a complaints management framework (iv) conflict of interest framework.
2020/2021 Financial Sector Tribunal Council ( FSTC)
The reporting requirements under Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Act, no 53 of 2003, require that entities report to the Financial Sector Transformation Council (FSTC) on an annual basis as to its progress in implementing the provisions of the Financial Sector Code. The next annual report to the Financial Sector Transformation Council will be for the period 1 December 2020 to 30 November 2021, submission to be made by 1 May 2022.
2020/ 2021 Protection of Personal Information Act
PoPIA finally got signed in, which effectively resulted in a fundamental change to businesses. Measures such as privacy policies, information officer appointments, client consents, data security and training were just some of the areas that businesses would have addressed.
So looking ahead to 2022, we can expect further changes as has been the past history in financial services, most notably a review of the Fica Risk and Compliance Management Programme, whilst we also anticipate the following possible compliance reports for 2022
Fica Report/Directive for 2022
Possible FAIS Conduct of Business Returns for 2022 (replaces previous compliance reports)
Crux Compliance Practitioners is developing a regulatory calendar that will map and diaries the various statutory dates for 2022 to guide and assist with these requirements. In addition to these, further enhancements are being made to an online platform/portal to which we believe to assist with the ever-increasing day to day compliance activities.