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Moonstone Monitor - 29 June 2017 |
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Paul Kruger
Author/Editor |
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People who reach the top of the tree are only those who haven't got the
qualifications to detain them at the bottom - Peter Ustinov |
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Distributed to 46 729 subscribers.
To advertise with us
click here |
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From the Crow's Nest |
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Notes on the Insurance Bill
Alan Holton |
The Insurance Bill in its probable final form has now been published.
The Bill deals essentially in prudential matters as these apply to insurers.
However, there are a number of amendments to existing legislation proposed in
the Bill that will be of interest to intermediaries.
Fees other than commission
S 8(5) of the STIA currently allows an intermediary to charge his client a fee
over and above the commission earned from the insurer. This is permitted on
condition that the amount so charged was disclosed expressly and separately to
the policyholder by the intermediary.
This sub-section has been repealed and the repeal will come into effect once the
Insurance Bill is signed into law. Instead, Regulation 5.10 to the STIA will
govern this situation in future.
This Regulation provides that an independent intermediary or representative may
only charge a policyholder a fee in addition to any remuneration otherwise
permitted by Regulation if that fee -
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(a) |
relates to an actual service provided to a policyholder; |
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(b) |
relates to a service other than services as
intermediary; |
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(c) |
does not relate to any other service for which the
independent intermediary has been remunerated by another
person;
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(d) |
is reasonable and commensurate with the service
rendered; and |
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(e) |
the amount and purpose thereof have been explicitly
agreed to by the policyholder in writing. |
The Regulations, both LTIA and STIA now include a provision that remuneration
paid to any person for the rendering of any service, activity or function
performed by that person, must -
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(a) |
be reasonably commensurate with the actual service,
function or activity performed; |
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(b) |
not result in any service, function or activity being
remunerated again; |
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(c) |
not be structured in a manner that may increase the risk
of unfair outcomes for policyholders.
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Premium collection
The Long-Term Insurance Act, 1998 will be amended by the inclusion of S47A –
(Collection of premiums by intermediaries).
In terms of this new section, no independent intermediary may receive, hold or
in any other manner deal with premiums payable under a long-term policy entered
into or to be entered into with a long-term insurer and no such long-term
insurer shall permit such independent intermediary to so receive, hold or in any
other manner deal with such premiums -
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(a) |
unless authorised to do so by the long-term insurer
concerned as prescribed by regulation; and |
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(b) |
otherwise than in accordance with the regulations. |
This new section has been added to align the LTIA with S 45 of the STIA, as
previously there was no such provision in the LTIA.
The LTIA Regulations published for comment in December 2016 make no mention of
this requirement and there is no similar provision in the LTIA Regulations as is
found in S 4 of the STIA Regulations. It would thus seem that the draft LTIA
Regulations will have to be amended to accommodate this new requirement.
S 49 of the LTIA and S 48 of the STIA (Limitation of remuneration) have both
been amended to read as follows:
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No consideration shall be - |
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(a) |
offered or provided by a (long/short-term) insurer or a
person on behalf of a (long/short-term) insurer to an
independent intermediary or any other person; or |
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(b) |
accepted by an independent intermediary or other person,
for rendering services referred to in the regulations, other than commission or
remuneration contemplated in the regulations and otherwise than in accordance
with the regulations. |
Each section has been split into (a) and (b) thus effectively dividing the
section into prohibition on (a) offering certain remuneration and (b) accepting
certain remuneration, other than as allowed for in the Regulations.
Alan Holton is a director of Compliance Monitoring Systems, a registered
External Compliance Officer, a member of the SA Compliance Institute and an
associate of Moonstone Compliance. |
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GTC Medical Aid Survey 2017 reveals small medical aids also offer
good value |
Smaller medical schemes perform well by offering consumers value for
money, but they have not been as successful as some of the larger
schemes in attracting new members.
This is one of the significant conclusions from leading wealth and
financial advisory firm GTC in its seventh annual Medical Aid Survey
(MAS) for 2017.
The Medical Aid Survey analyses and rates medical aid schemes and
provides a standardised comparison and ranking of the choices available
to consumers.
This year’s survey reviewed 23 open medical aid providers, with a total
of 144 plans, which were categorised into 11 areas according to benefits
offered.
Click here to
read more
of the article, or download the
2017 MAS
pdf.
For more information contact
Jill Larkan. |
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Your Practice Made Perfect |
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FSP Levies for 2017 announced |
FSPs will heave a collective sigh of relief on hearing that the new
levies payable to the FSB actually decreased this year. No indication of
the reason for this is given, but we presume that there was a surplus in
collections for the previous year, which led to an actual decrease in
2017. The same can unfortunately not be said of the FAIS Ombud levy, but
as it is a substantially lower sum of money, the effect of the 7%
increase is negligible.
Category I or IV FSP
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Base Amount: |
R3 182 |
(2016: R3 459) |
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Per KI/Rep Amount: |
R508 |
(2016: R553) |
Category I or IV FSP (1.1 and/or 1.19 only)
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Base Amount: |
R3 182 |
(2016: R3 459) |
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Per KI/Rep Amount: |
R250 |
(2016: R250) |
Category II, IIA or III FSP
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Base Amount: |
R6 411 |
(2016: R6 969) |
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Per KI/Rep Amount: |
R508 |
(2016: R553) |
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Investments Under Management
x 0.0000164289 |
(2016: 0.0000178575) |
Levy for funding of Office of Ombud for Financial Services Providers
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Base Amount: |
R947 |
(2016: R885) |
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Per KI/Rep Amount: |
R360 |
(2016: R337) |
Click
here to download two levy calculators to establish what your
obligation will be, with compliments
from my colleague, Paull Lawrence:
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FAIS clearly unclear about intermediary services
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The Free market Foundation recently published an article on a matter
which has certainly been a major bugbear since the introduction of the
FAIS Act.
When does a person have to register for an intermediary service, and when not?
Gary Moore, senior legal researcher at the Free Market Foundation
writes:
“A person who provides advice or intermediary services without being
licensed could be fined up to R10 million or imprisoned for up to ten
years, or both.”
“Some advice is expressly excluded from advice requiring a licence
(providing mere factual information about how to enter a transaction
regarding a financial product, objective product information, and
reports about a financial product without recommending any transaction
as appropriate).”
“However, no service is expressly excluded from an “intermediary
service” which requires a Fais licence.”
This confusion led to many FSPs actually appointing their clerical staff
as representatives to avoid the threat of a massive fine.
Moore then goes on to discuss a Supreme Court of Appeal ruling in 2013
on the matter.
Please
click here to read the full article. (3 minutes reading time
required). |
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Insurance Apprentice 2018 gets under way
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The fourth series of The Insurance Apprentice is set to take the
short-term insurance industry by storm once again as preparations get
under way and applications for the 2018 event take center stage. The
Insurance Apprentice is a ‘reality type’ series competition in which
eight young contestants complete various insurance related tasks while
being filmed. Applications close on 31 August 2017, so do not delay your
entry.
Who can enter?
You need to:
There are two ways to enter:
After the elimination rounds in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban,
eight Apprentices will be chosen. Filming will take place from 7 to 12 January 2018. The series will be aired via the FAnews and The Insurance
Apprentice websites, YouTube and Facebook.
The winner will:
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Fly business class to London for a week to visit Lloyds of London;
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Receive a bursary valued at R75 000 from INSETA; and
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A cash prize of R20 000 from Masifunde Training Centre.
So, what are you waiting for?
Click here to read frequently asked questions. |
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Technologically Speaking
Moonstone Information Refinery |
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Digital Workspace Solutions provider SuiteBox Breaks New Ground |
This digital meeting platform, which offers a wide range of solutions
to current challenges for financial advisers, recently made the news
for the right reasons.
Suitebox won the “mobility solutions” category in the
fin5ive challenge, part of the BankTech Asia Awards program.
SuiteBox’s digital meeting, collaboration and digital signature
solution beat hundreds of applications to impress a judging panel
for its innovativeness and relevance to the Asia market.
Ian Dunbar, CEO of SuiteBox said: “We are delighted to win this
award. This acknowledgement is testimony to the quality of our
product offering and the continuous innovation we implemented since
we launched 18 months ago.”
Hjalmar Bekker, MD of Moonstone, commented: “As a Suitebox
shareholder and African distributor, we are thrilled that our
investment in globally relevant fintech is gaining traction and
recognition.”
“Awards such as these confirm the relevance of our product line to
current and future clients, both in financial services and
elsewhere.”
Earlier, it was reported that global professional services firm,
Aon, has signed an agreement with SuiteBox to roll out its digital
workspace technology to its Australian adviser network, to
streamline their advice process and provide improved client
experience.
“Aon has had a client first philosophy for some time now, and
leveraging technology such as SuiteBox’s video conferencing platform
is the next logical step in improving the client experience. It also
increases the effectiveness and efficiencies of our advisers’
practices,” says Jayson Walker, Aon’s General Manager of Financial
Advice.
“A key innovation from SuiteBox was the integration of the digital
signatures into the video conference itself. To enable an adviser to
digitally present a Statement of Advice, and capture the Authority
to Proceed in the same session, is the kind of easy and simple
process consumers have come to expect,” he added.
Says Ian Dunbar: ‘Aon undertook a comprehensive review of
functionality, risk and suitability, and I am very proud that
SuiteBox was selected to deliver a comprehensive digital workspace
to their advisers and clients’.
“Since inception, SuiteBox understood the importance of the ability
to not only meet with clients, but also collaborate on documents and
transact business all in one digital solution. This combination puts
SuiteBox at the leading edge of digital workflows for professional
services. The adoption of SuiteBox by Aon truly endorses this
strategy”.
Currently, over 600 companies use SuiteBox’s digital workspace
technology. This is expected to grow rapidly as more businesses
globally embrace video, collaboration and digital signing technology
to create significant work efficiencies.
Media contact
Neil Summers, Sales Manager, Moonstone Business Services
Mobile: +27729088994
Email:
neil@suitebox.com
About SuiteBox
SuiteBox transforms customer engagement with intuitive video,
document collaboration, selective recording and real-time digital
signing, helping you accelerate and close business using the full
power of mobile and desktop devices. It is able to be fully white
labelled and seamlessly integrated with a client’s core CRM or
banking platform. SuiteBox is available via monthly subscription, is
delivered via the cloud and requires no technical expertise to use.
Visit www.suitebox.com for more information.
About Moonstone Information Refinery
Established in April 2000, Moonstone Information Refinery (Pty) Ltd
is a proudly independent company in the South African financial
services sector with a strategic focus on the provision of
professional support services and technologies in a rapidly evolving
market. See
www.moonstone.co.za for further information.
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Regulatory Examinations
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RE Self-Help Guidelines and Frequently Asked Questions |
Self-Help Guidelines
Candidates who wrote with Moonstone can now view their results,
make a new booking or update their information on our website:
www.faisexam.co.za
Here is what you do:
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Click on the Moonstone FAIS Exam website (www.faisexam.co.za)
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Click on the second heading: “Update Your Booking/Personal
Details/Get results”.
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Key in your ID or Passport Number used to register for the
exam: click on Send password.
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The system will
send a password to the e-mail address you provided at
registration.
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Use this password to log in on the same address as above:
Type in the password – do not copy and paste.
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Click login.
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You will then be able to make a booking, download your
certificate or view results.
Frequently Asked RE QuestionsEmail enquiries should be addressed to
faisexam@moonstoneinfo.co.za. You can phone us on
021 883 8000 - select option 2 to speak to one of our
consultants. |
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Careers Platform
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Are you hiring? Advertise your position on Moonstone’s Career Platform
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The Moonstone website -
www.moonstone.co.za
- enjoys an average of 15 000 visits and approximately 39 000 page views per month. |
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Moonstone boasts an exclusive newsletter mailing list of over 46000
dedicated financial decision makers who receive 2 newsletters per week. |
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Our audience is relevant and industry specific: individual and corporate advisors and brokers in the following financial sectors:
Investment, Risk, Healthcare, Banking, Retirement, and Insurance. |
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Featured Positions |
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Sales Consultant –
Medical Scheme Brokerage:
Optivest, Durbanville - The ideal candidate is RE 5 qualified, has
medical scheme experience and is comfortable to interact by phone.
Read More
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Accounts Executive /
Broker:
Garrun, Houghton - We require a FAIS compliant and experienced
Short-Term Insurance Broker with own transport.
Read More
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Life Insurance
Compliance Officer:
Bidvest Life Insurance, Umhlanga - If you have a minimum of 3 years
experience in the life insurance industry and Compliance Officer
experience, then
Read More
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Financial Planners:
Risk Free Solutions, Port Elizabeth & Kimberley - We are looking for
established, well balanced Financial Planners striving for financial
freedom. If you have matric, your own transport, driver’s licence and RE
qualificaton, then
Read More
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Short Term Insurance
Underwriter:
The Insurance Centre, Westville - We require a commercial and
personal lines short term insurance underwriter / administrator.
Read More
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In Lighter Wyn |
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Modern wedding |
Dearest Dad
I am coming home to get married soon, so get your cheque book out.
I'm in love with a boy who is far away from me.
As you know, I am in Australia , and he lives in Scotland. We met on
a dating website, became friends on Facebook , had long chats on
Whatsapp. He proposed to me on Skype, and now we've had two months
of a relationship through Viber.
My beloved and favorite Dad, I need your blessing, good wishes, and
a really big wedding.
Lots of love and thanks
Your favourite daughter
Lilly
My Darling Lilly
Like Wow! Really? Cool!
Whatever - I suggest you two get married on Twitter, have fun on
Tango, buy your kids on Amazon, and pay for it all through PayPal.
And when you get fed up with this new husband, sell him on eBay.
Love
Dad.
Irish Compassion
Shortly after take-off on an outbound evening Air Lingus flight from
Dublin to Boston, the lead flight attendant nervously made the
following painful announcement in her lovely Irish brogue:
Ladies and gentlemen, I'm so very sorry, but it appears that there
has been a terrible mix-up by our catering service. I don't know how
this happened, but we have 103 passengers on board, and
unfortunately, we received only 40 dinner meals. I truly apologize
for this mistake and inconvenience.
When the muttering of the passengers had died down, she continued,
"Anyone who is kind enough to give up their meal so that someone
else can eat will receive free, unlimited drinks for the duration of
our 5 hour flight.
Her next announcement came about 2 hours later: "If anyone is
hungry, we still have 40 dinners available.
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Tel: +27 21 883 8000 | Fax: +27 21 883 8005
info@moonstoneinfo.com
www.moonstone.co.za
P.O. Box 12662, Die Boord, Stellenbosch, 7613, Republic of South Africa
Disclaimer:
Services and products advertised by external product suppliers in
this newsletter are paid for by the respective suppliers. Moonstone
does not endorse any opinions, conclusions, data, products, services
or other information contained in this e-mail which is unrelated to
the official business of Moonstone and furthermore accepts no
liability in respect of the unauthorised use of its e-mail facility
or the sending of e-mail communications for other than strictly
business purposes.
The complete disclaimer can be accessed
here.
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©2015 Moonstone. All rights reserved. |
