Finance & Equity

South Africa is the only permanent African member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global anti-money laundering watchdog. This is why it came as a shock to hear that the country is close to being grey-listed following concerns raised by the global body.

In today’s complex financial landscape, business owners need more than just insurance policies. Business owners need the comprehensive, unbiased advice that can only come from an Independent Financial Adviser (IFA) to create a holistic financial plan. It is important to understand the distinction between a ‘tied agent’ and an IFA.

No Worries shows how anyone can live a stress-free financial life and build wealth for the long term. This is not about millions of tiny decisions that drain the joy from life, like skipping daily coffee to save a few bucks. And it’s not simply about having more money.

The last five years have seen an improvement in the audit profession when it comes to audit failures. Is this evidence that the entire financial ecosystem finally understands the importance of taking responsibility for the audit process or is it because of the increase in legislative mandate and high scrutiny that is currently imposed on the audit profession?

With an estimated 150,000 micro merchants in townships, peri urban areas and rural areas, digitalising small and informal merchants could create significant economic spinoffs for underserved and excluded communities across the nation. Generating R178 billion in annual sales, merchants serve around 80% of the population. These merchants are often excluded from the financial and technology tools that larger retailers take for granted, restricting them from reaching their full potential.

While many audit tools and methods have evolved over time, the practice of audit has been in existence for years. But how do we as auditors stay ahead of the curve of emerging technologies? As audit professionals we often find ourselves facing unique challenges ranging from misalignment with auditees to insufficient identification of changing risk areas with technology advances and keeping pace with emerging technologies while ensuring the integrity of financial information.

It is projected that the global accounting software market will grow to some R660 billion by 2033. The automation of accounting procedures and financial activities across industries has completely changed the international business landscape. In most large companies, manual data capturing processes have been relegated to the past, and it is only in the most extreme cases that these are still implemented.

The last five years have seen an improvement in the audit profession when it comes to audit failures. Is this evidence that the entire financial ecosystem finally understands the importance of taking responsibility for the audit process or is it because of the increase in legislative mandate and high scrutiny that is currently imposed on the audit profession?

This vidcast dives into greylisting and its impact on asset managers and investment mandates. We reference the struggles experienced by the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) and the potential impact on returns that greylisting could continue to have.