Summary of COFI Bill development process to date
The first draft of the Conduct of Financial Institutions (COFI) Bill was published for public comment by the National Treasury in December 2018. The draft was informed by inputs from a Technical Expert Panel that the National Treasury convened at the beginning of 2018. The December 2018 Bill was accompanied by an Explanatory Policy Paper.1
During the comment period (11 Dec 2018 – 1 April 2019), the National Treasury hosted a series of public workshops to support the submission of comments on the Bill. This included the following:
- 22 February 2019 – Public workshop – Pretoria
- 6 March 2019 – Media workshop
- 11 March 2019 – Public workshop – Cape Town
Comments were also submitted by regulators such as the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), the Prudential Authority (PA), the South African Reserve Bank (SARB), and the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS).
Bi-lateral engagements were held over the course of 2019 between the National Treasury and various commentators to further discuss comments submitted.
The 2018 Explanatory Policy Paper raised a number of specific issues in the COFI Bill requiring further consideration and development. The comment process allowed for issues to be more fully considered and the Bill to be refined accordingly.