Banking & Insurance

The Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act (FAIS) is designed to create a professional code of conduct with specific outcomes and measurements which Financial Services Providers (FSPs) must comply with. 

The digitisation of payments is accelerating rapidly, which may mean that the days of plastic cards may be over. Using this digitisation trend to justify a belief that credit cards, as such, will not be around for much longer is a somewhat misguided approach. One that demonstrates a misunderstanding of what credit cards are, and why they remain one of the most popular ways of transacting across the world.

South African residential property prices are experiencing continued downward pressure while the average cost of building new property continues to increase year on year with rising costs of materials and labour. The 2018-2019 Lightstone Property Forecast showed that the market ended close to 2.9% as opposed to the forecasted 3.8% in 2018.

As exponential, digital-driven technologies transform the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) from a buzzword into reality, the financial services sector - and insurance in particular - face massive disruption, it starts with a radical reimagining of the very model insurance has been built on since its origins in the 14th Century, and Africa is no exception.

The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has published a Draft Conduct Standard for Banks, under section 106(2)(b) of the Financial Sector Regulation Act 2017 (FSRA). The draft Conduct Standard applies to banks, mutual banks, co-operative banks, branches of foreign banks and representative offices of foreign banks (banks) and will apply in addition to any other requirement already imposed on banks by other financial sector laws.

It is not uncommon for life insurers to outright refuse cover if the use of cannabis is disclosed during the application process, as is policy for illegal drug usage. However, with South Africa’s recent decriminalisation of the private use and cultivation of cannabis, many industries will need to reassess existing business practices which may be impacted by the changing legislation.

Focused on meeting the financial needs of the most vulnerable citizens in society, financial inclusion is recognised across the globe as a critical component to economic development and advancement.

The NHI is set to be South Africa’s version of universal healthcare where resources are pooled in order to provide health services for everyone. Apart from the many flaws in the manner in which it is being implemented, a most serious flaw is that it is going to be prohibitively expensive. Scant attention has been paid in the South African public discourse to the structure of the proposed system and the problems inherent therein.

Following the South African Reserve Bank’s decision earlier today to keep interest rates unchanged, FNB confirms that it will maintain its prime lending rate at 10.25% and will review its position following the next SARB MPC meeting in May 2019.

The deadline for accountable institutions to meet the amendments of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act, No. 38 of 2001, as amended by the Financial Intelligence Centre Amendment Act, Act 1 of 2017 (FICA) legislation, which was introduced to counteract money laundering and the financing of terrorism, is fast approaching on April 2, 2019.