Tag: Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act (FAIS)

The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) officially declared crypto assets as financial products under the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act. This is a big step forward towards avoiding South Africa’s infamous decline into the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list.

Brokers are a feature of the medical schemes market and subject to extensive regulation in terms of the Medical Schemes Act, its regulations, and circulars issued by the Council for Medical Schemes (CMS). The CMS has announced it intends to revise Circular 20 of 2010, the prevailing circular dealing with brokers and has called for public comment.

The Intergovernmental Fintech Working Group (IFWG) has published a new blog on Open Finance, noting that South African regulatory authorities have started looking at open finance as it relates to their respective mandates.

In order for a representative to be debarred, there must be non-compliance by the representative or the key individual of the financial services provider with, amongst other things, the 'fit and proper' requirements of the FAIS Act.

On 20 November 2020, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) published a draft Declaration (Draft Declaration) and a statement in support thereof which sets out its proposal to bring crypto assets within the ambit of the definition of 'financial product' in Section 1 of the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act 37 of 2002 (FAIS Act).

Financial services providers (FSPs) registered under the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act 2002 fall within the ambit of ‘accountable institutions’ under the Financial Intelligence Centre Act 2001. As accountable institutions, these FSPs are obliged to comply with the FIC Act and are subject to oversight by the FSCA.

A recent judgment in the Supreme Court of Appeal has reconfirmed that the duty of debarring representatives, who do not meet the requirement of a ‘fit and proper’ person as prescribed in the FAIS Act, falls fairly and squarely on the shoulders of financial services providers (FSPs).

The issue of digital disruption is currently at the forefront of business discussions across all industries, but is currently arguably most acutely being felt, and feared, in the Contact Centre industry. With Contact Centres at the forefront of both the interface between customers and the organisation and the cutting edge of new technology deployment, the imperative for Contact Centres to adapt to changing customer communication preferences is paramount.

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.