Comment sought on urgent financial sector regulation amendments

Urgent draft amendments to regulations affecting the Financial Services Tribunal and Council for Medical Schemes must be in place before the end of this financial year to avoid compromising the day-to-day operations of both institutions, CompliNEWS contributor Pam Saxby reports. Already tabled in the National Assembly, according to an accompanying Government notice, the changes envisaged will extend transitional arrangements for the funding of the tribunal until a Financial Sector Levies Bill released last year in draft form for comment has been finalised and is in force. They will also enable the Council for Medical Schemes to recover the cost of information gathering, supervisory on-site inspections and investigations into the affairs of financial institutions until amendments have been made to the legislation concerned. In addition, clarity is provided on the status of the Financial Sector Conduct Authority in relation to various statutory ombudsmen. The deadline for comment has been set at 27 March 2019.