2023 ANNUAL FSCA LEVIES
The Financial Sector and Deposit Insurance Levies Act passed into law on 1 April 2023.
The Act provides for the imposition of levies on the financial sector to fund the Prudential Authority, the FSCA, the Financial Services Tribunal, the Financial Ombud Schemes Council, the statutory ombuds, and the Corporation for Deposit Insurance.
The Corporation for Deposit Insurance will administer the Deposit Insurance Fund, which is designed to protect the bank deposits of financial customers.
Banks, co-operative banks and mutual banks will also have to pay a deposit insurance levy to the fund.
Financial entities will pay a levy and, for two years, a special levy to either the Prudential Authority or the FSCA.
Apart from the FSCA levy and the FAIS Ombud levy, FSPs will also pay new levies to fund the Financial Services Tribunal and the Financial Ombud Schemes Council.
The special levy will be imposed in the two years immediately following the date on which the Act takes effect, to fund establishing the Twin Peaks regulatory structure.
For entities that fall under the FSCA, the special levy will be 7.5% of the “normal” annual levy paid by the supervised entity.
Schedule 1 of the Financial Sector and Deposit Insurance Levies Act sets out how the levies will be calculated for entities regulated by the Prudential Authority, while Schedule 2 provides the formulae for entities regulated by the FSCA. Schedule 2 entities include FSPs.
A comparison of the levies that were announced for 2022 with those in 2023 of the Act shows that:
Location: Duxbury House ,15 Tana Road, Sunninghill
Date: May 2023
2023 ANNUAL FSCA LEVIES
|
A.FSP |
2022 |
2023 |
% Increase |
|
CAT I & IV Base Amount |
3982 |
3600 |
-9.59% |
|
CAT I & IV per KI /Rep |
635 |
520 |
-18.11% |
|
CAT II, IIA, III Base Amount |
8024 |
7500 |
-6.50% |
|
CAT II, IIA, III per KI /Rep |
635 |
520 |
-18.11% |
|
% of AUM for CAT II, IIA, III |
0.0000184595% |
0.0018595% |
0.0018410405% |
|
CAT I & IV only for LTI A or Friendly Society Benefits Base Amount |
3982 |
3600 |
-9.59% |
|
CAT I & IV only for LTI A or Friendly Society Benefits per KI / Rep |
250 |
250 |
0.00% |
|
Maximum |
2 054 274 |
2 500 000 |
21.69% |
|
B. FSP Ombud Levy |
2022 |
2023 |
% Increase |
|
Ombud Levy Base Amount |
1231 |
1100 |
-10.64% |
|
Ombud Levy per KI / Rep |
469 |
690 |
47.12% |
|
Maximum |
333 245 |
333 275 |
0.90% |
In addition, FSPs will pay the following levies:
Financial Services Tribunal levy: 2.5% of the FSP levy (including representatives and key individuals); and
Ombud Council levy: 2.5% of the FSP levy (including representatives and key individuals) (And don’t forget the 7.5% special levy for two years.)
|
C. Additional Levies |
2023 |
|
Tribunal Levy |
2.5 % of FSCA Levy |
|
Ombud Council Levy |
2.5% of FSCA Levy |
|
Special Levy |
7.5% of FSCA Levy |
In terms of the Act, the number of representatives will no longer be calculated as at 31 August of the levy year. It will be calculated using the average total number of key individuals plus the average total number of representatives, calculated over the period 1 September of the preceding levy year to 31 August of the levy year. A key individual who is also a representative is counted once only.
The FSCA, who have advised that the deadline for the payment of levies remains the same at 31 October every year. Proof of payment must be sent to FSCA.levies@FSCA.co.za The subject of the email must always be the FSP number.
The Financial Sector and Deposit Insurance Levies Act provides for entities to apply for an exemption from the levy, the special levy or the deposit insurance levy for a levy year or a part of a levy year. However, the following conditions must be met for an exemption to be granted:
A. The exemption will alleviate undue financial or other hardship or prejudice to the supervised entity or member, or financial customers due to circumstances outside the control of that supervised entity or member;
B. It is not contrary to the public interest;
C. It is necessary for:
- developmental, financial inclusion and transformation objectives to facilitate progressive
or incremental compliance with the Financial Sector Regulation Act or a financial sector
law; or
- other reasons that may contribute to the achievement of the objects of Financial Sector
Regulation Act; and
- The exemption is necessary to facilitate the affordability of the financial sector levy, the
special levy for the supervised entity, or the affordability of the deposit insurance levy for the member.
Those FSPs that require an exemption from paying levies can submit an application to FSCA.leviesexemption@FSCA.co.za
The FSCA confirmed that there is no cost attached to this application.
The application must contain motivation for the request and have supporting documents.
Within 5 working days, a response will be provided on whether the application is approved or not.