Comment is sought by 26 October on a draft standard proposing the minimum requirements to be met by an insurer when outsourcing material business functions or activities to third-party service providers. Prepared by the Financial Sector Conduct and Prudential Authorities, its purpose is to ensure that outsourcing ‘does not impair ...

The Employment Equity Amendment Bill’s ‘B’ version was expected to be passed last week by the National Assembly – but, in the absence of quorum, no decision could be reached, CompliNEWS contributor Pam Saxby notes. According to the minutes of Thursday’s sitting, after the Bill had been read a second ...

The Prudential Authority has called for comment by 30 September 2021 on draft supervisory guidelines on the ‘advanced measurement approach’ to operational risk, CompliNEWS contributor Pam Saxby reports. Their purpose is ‘to bring to the attention of banks specific international best practices related to operational risk and to clarify certain ...

The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) warns the public to act with caution when doing any financial services business with an individual named Mandla Lamba. The FSCA has received information that Mandla Lamba is conducting unregistered business and offering shares to members of the public on social media and other ...

The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has released the following FAIS notices:

FSCA FAIS Notice 101 of 2021 – Exemption of Particular Persons from Competence and Fee Requirements, No 42 of 2021

FSCA FAIS Notice 100 of 2021 – Exemption of Particular Persons from Competence and Fee Requirements, No ...

The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) warns the public to be cautious and vigilant when dealing with Trabot Pty (Ltd), as they are not authorised to give any financial advice or render any intermediary services in terms of the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act 37 of 2002 (FAIS Act ...

On Thursday 9 September 2021, Richard Faithfull was sentenced to 5 years and 10 months imprisonment for laundering money, contrary to s 327 of the Proceeds of Crime Act, 2002. He was also disqualified from being a company director for a period of 10 years.

Faithfull had previously pleaded guilty to ...

Criminal charges have today been filed against the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) in the Federal Court for the mis-selling of consumer credit insurance.

According to the ASIC the 30 criminal charges relate to CBA’s promotion and sale of CreditCard Plus and Loan Protection policies as an add-on insurance product ...

By Shamaa Sheik

The following decision was handed down in the Financial Services Tribunal on 9 September 2021:

• Samantha Williams-Mothei (Applicant) and Advicecube (Pty) Ltd (Respondent) – (case number: FSP4/2021)

Fast facts

Misconduct – Breach of employer’s Code of Conduct and governance framework – Insufficient to justify debarment

Summary ...

On Thursday last week lawyers for Viceroy Research, the short-seller that was fined R50m by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA), wrote to regulators accusing them of ‘scurrilous’ behaviour and demanding they hand over certain information within 24 hours.

A Business Day report says Johannesburg-based Snaid & Morris accuses the ...

Insurance intermediaries need to move away from 'a product-push approach towards a more client-centric product build approach', Andrew Coutts, the head of intermediated business at Santam, said in the insurer’s newly released 2021 Barometer.

Santam, South Africa’s largest short-term insurer (STI), has released its 2020/2021 Insurance Barometer report on ...

Legalbrief Today Issue 5257

FirstRand, Africa’s biggest bank by market value, is ending its funding of new coal-fired power stations immediately and will halt the financing of new projects to mine the fuel over the next five years, says a Business Day report. The Johannesburg-based lender joins its peer Nedbank ...

German prosecutors raided the finance and justice ministries on Thursday as part of an investigation into the government’s anti-money laundering agency, putting the spotlight on Germany’s failings in tackling financial crime.

Reuters report that the probe into the Financial Intelligence Unit, an agency of the finance ministry under Social Democrat ...

A former investment adviser has been sentenced to five years and ten months in prison for money laundering as part of an organised crime group.

FT Adviser reports that Richard Faithfull was convicted of laundering £2.5m as part of a trans-national crime group over a period of at least 12 months.

He ...

Nigeria's Central Bank says it's investigating the foreign-exchange transactions of lenders operating in the country. This after the naira on Friday plunged to record lows in the unauthorised market, defying efforts by the central bank to stabilise the currency. Flagging ‘recent occurrences’, it warned banks ‘to desist from ...

Compli-Serve

The overall responsibility for money laundering prevention lies with senior management and controllers of an institution.

The Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO) is responsible for the oversight of the institution’s anti-money laundering activities and is the key person in the implementation of the anti-money laundering strategy of the institution.

• The MLRO ...

By Lee Rossini

Working from home is currently the norm, especially in the knowledge sectors such as financial planning. As the pandemic forced companies to adopt this practice, many of them welcomed the cost saving and short-term boosts in productivity that came with it. Despite these benefits, the long-term effects ...

Sanlam, Africa’s largest non-bank financial services group, will join Discovery in imposing mandatory Covid-19 vaccinations for all staff from 2022, though it says it won’t fire workers who refuse the jab. The group made the announcement to staff yesterday, CEO Paul Hanratty told Business Day. 'We can’t force anyone to ...

Current legislation allows employers to consider whether unvaccinated employees can keep their job. According to the Consolidated Direction on Occupational Health and Safety Measure in Certain Workplaces, which was amended in June this year by the Employment & Labour Department, employers have an obligation to undertake a risk assessment regarding whether ...

Legalbrief Today Issue 5254

While many courts are still unable to get on with trials and other proceedings requiring recordings due to a ransomware attack on the Department of Justice, IT experts fear that sensitive personal information of ordinary South Africans may have been compromised. Rapport notes that stenographers ...

Dutch non-profit Stichting Massaschade & Consument filed suit last week against TikTok, seeking to force the social media app to compensate 4.5m Dutch users for ‘harvesting and auctioning sensitive user data’ in violation of European privacy laws.

According to a Jurist report, Stichting Massaschade & Consument is asking the ...

Various forms relating to the Promotion of Access to Information Act 2 of 2000 (PAIA) have been published by the Information Regulator.

• Form 01: Request for a Guide from the Regulator [reg 2] 
• Form 01: Request for a Copy of the Guide from an Information Officer [reg 3 ...

Prosecutor-General Martha Imalwa has questioned the motives of Icelanders facing criminal charges in the Fishrot bribery case in Namibia. Imalwa has filed an affidavit raising concerns that former Samherji executive Ingvar Júlíusson's request to have her and whistle-blower Jóhannes Stefánsson take the stand and be cross-examined. New Era ...

Despite the limitations of a global pandemic and its attendant lockdowns, African venture capital (VC) had a bumper year in 2020. According to a report from the African Private Equity and Venture Capital Association (AVCA), the number of total reported venture capital deals in Africa in 2020 rose to 319 from ...