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Moonstone Monitor - 22 March 2018 |
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Paul Kruger
Author/Editor |
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“The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that
fear.” – Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom |
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Distributed to 51,182 subscribers.
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From the Crow's Nest |
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Do what I say |
Complaints handling is set to become a major measure of your commitment
to the fair treatment of clients, or TCF as it has become known.
The final proposals for implementation of changes to the General Code of Conduct
reiterate this. There is now an official definition of what a complaint is:
"complaint" means an expression of dissatisfaction by a person to
a provider or, to the knowledge of the provider, to the provider's service
supplier relating to a financial product or financial service provided or
offered by that provider which indicates or alleges, regardless of whether such
an expression of dissatisfaction is submitted together with or in relation to a
client query, that -
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the provider or its service supplier has contravened or failed to comply with
an agreement, a law, a rule, or a code of conduct which is binding on the
provider or to which it subscribes;
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the provider or its service supplier's maladministration or wilful or
negligent action or failure to act, has caused the person harm, prejudice,
distress or substantial inconvenience; or
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the provider or its service supplier has treated the person unfairly;
If you thought that having to act with “…due care and diligence…" was an opaque
command, read this one again. Similarly the definition of a “complainant” allows
for a very wide interpretation.
When the new code kicks in, you will be required to establish a complaints
management framework, or hopefully adapt your current one, to very specific
requirements, including record keeping which allows for monitoring and analysis
and reporting complaints information as part of your market conduct report.
The proposed effective date is 1 January 2019.
Regulatory complaints handling
The latest FAIS Ombud Annual Report shows that new complaints received by the
office increased to 10 846 from 9 891 in the previous year. Of these, 3 794
complaints (over 34%) were dismissed, 4 639 complaints (over 42%) were referred,
and 592 complaints (over 5%) were settled. In addition, 1 821 complaints (over
16%) were carried over to the 2017/18 financial year.
This was achieved by 72 staff members. Personnel costs came to R29 264 029, an
increase of 19.3% on 2015/16.
Of the total complaints received by the office of the FAIS Ombud, 8 433 (77.8%)
were either dismissed or referred elsewhere. This must have had a huge influence
on the ability of the office to fulfil its primary duty.
New Ombud structure
The current Financial Services Ombuds Schemes Council will be replaced by a
full-time Ombud Council, headed by a Chief Ombud. The Ombud Council will
establish a single point of entry into the ombud system which should see a huge
improvement in productivity and speed up complaints resolution considerably.
The jury is still out about the exact structure, and three models are currently
under consideration.
The discussion paper notes:
The Ombud Council is anticipated to be established alongside the Prudential
Authority and Financial Sector Conduct Authority in 2018, and provisions
relating to the ombuds system implemented thereafter.
Further steps identified:
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An updated review of the overall functioning and outputs of the ombud system
is needed, looking to identify performance indicators and test each ombud and
the system against these. A diagnostic into the functioning of South Africa’s
ombuds system will be undertaken in 2018.
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Best-of-breed standards for all ombud schemes should be proposed, as part of
the new Ombud Council’s work programme. These requirements will be issued as
Ombud Rules by the Ombud Council. The Council should consider the processes and
procedures that should be standardised, like complaints and referral practices,
investigation powers, feedback times and methods, adjudication approaches,
reporting, as well as the appropriate balance between principles- and
rules-based standards. The findings of the diagnostic will be important in this
regard.
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In 3-5 years a review of the impact of interventions should assess whether
further corrective action is necessary, including through structural reform.
Consumer education
The discussion document gives no indication of plans to do something proactive
with the information gleaned from a central database of complaints. The fact
that more than a third of the complaints received by the FAIS Ombud were
dismissed clearly points to an opportunity for consumer education.
It will be expected of FSPs to learn from complaints and take corrective action
to prevent recurring problems. If the same does not apply to the various Ombuds,
it might be viewed as a case of “Do what I say, not as I do.” |
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Your Practice Made Perfect |
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How will the VAT increase impact short term insurance policies? |
The recent announcement of the change in the Value Added Tax rate from
14% to 15% effective 1 April 2018 did not leave much time for companies
across different industries to amend their systems to accurately
implement the VAT rate increase from that date.
Some of the industries that will be most affected by the change are the
financial services sector and the insurance industry. Yusuf Bodiat of
Lion of Africa recently
reported in FANews that “not only will all companies need to update
their systems, they will also need to train staff, communicate to
customers and ensure nothing slips through the cracks, all in a very
short space of time.”
In his
article Yusuf highlights some of the complications that the industry
faces and questions if all the implications were considered.
Some of the examples of the simpler complications that he mentions:
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If a policy is written at 14% and subsequently cancelled (at 15%), how
much is the refunded amount? One would think it would be at 14%, but
what if there were additions/endorsements to the cover before or after
1 April 2018?
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If a policy is incepted and the cash is received by a broker in
March 2018 and paid over to the insured in April 2018 (within 15 days),
does the insurer have sufficient information at the end of March to
capture the transaction accurately?
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Class of business – More about Short-term Insurance – Personal lines
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In terms of Board Notice 194 of 2017,
class of business (COB) training forms a compulsory part of the
competence requirements for FSPs, Key Individuals and Representatives.
The product categories that an FSP can be licensed for have been divided
into 9 broad classes, each with its own subclasses. For example,
Short-term Insurance Personal Lines is a class of business with
subclasses that include: Accident and health policies; Liability
policies; Miscellaneous policies; Motor policies; Property policies;
Transportation policies and Short-term reinsurance policies.
What will the training cover?
Learners will be provided with a core knowledge and understanding of
characteristics, terms and features of products for individual
(non-commercial) clients in the short-term insurance personal lines
class of business, including typical fee structures, charges and other
costs and risks associated with investing, purchasing or transacting in
these products. In addition to this, the module provides knowledge of
legislation impacting on short-term insurance personal lines products.
The module will also provide learners with the skill to assess the
appropriateness of products within the short-term insurance class of
business for specific individual client needs.
More information
If you require more information please contact Veronica Grobler via
email or on 087 702 6429.
For information on Corporate Packages, please contact Sheila Olckers via
email or on 021 883 8000.
Register today!
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Technologically Speaking
Moonstone Information Refinery
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Impact of POPI act on direct and digital marketers |
The Protection of Personal Information (PoPI) Act regulations were
published last year in September and will come into effect during
2018. Will it be a good thing, will it over-complicate targeting the
consumer, and will it over-regulate the South African business
industry?
At the recent held IAB Digital Summit Elizabeth De Stadler, founding
director of consumer and data protection consultancy Novation
Consulting,
shared how the POPI Act will affect direct marketers.
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Regulatory Examinations
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2018 RE Schedules updated |
Please note: Registration cut-off is 11 working days before date of exam. |
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FSB Regulatory Exam update - What
will be significantly impacted by Board Notice 194 |
The amended
requirements contained in the 2017 Determination of Fit and
Proper Requirements will impact on the content of the study
material for the REs.
Persons who registered to write the regulatory examination ON or
AFTER Tuesday, 3 April 2018 are obliged to write the new
version of the regulatory examination, which will contain
the updated questions. It is very important for these candidates
to ensure that they use updated preparation material that
is aligned with the qualifying criteria in Annexure Four of
Board Notice 194 of 2017.
The following areas in the new Task and Criteria will be
significantly impacted by Board Notice 194 of 2017. Please note
there may also be individual questions in other specific areas
that can be impacted, but when all questions are reviewed this
will be indicated in the prep guide.
Regulatory Examination |
Task |
Criteria |
RE1 |
Task 3 |
Criteria 1 - 3 |
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Task 4 |
Criteria 1 – 15 |
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Task 5 |
Criteria 1 - 11 |
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Task 13 |
Criteria 1 - 2 |
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Task 15 |
Criteria 1 - 5 |
RE5 |
Task 8 |
Criteria 3 & 8 |
We also
received confirmation from Inseta that their adjusted study
material will be available before or on 1 April 2018.
Frequently asked Questions
Please
click here to access a list of questions and answers,
including information on what exams to write, the cost
thereof, study material, training and a lot more. |
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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 20 000 visits and approximately 39 000 page views per month. |
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Moonstone boasts an exclusive newsletter mailing list of over 51000
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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Personal Lines
Sales/Underwriter:
Venshaw Insurance Administrators, Bellville, Western Cape - We are
looking for a candidate with 2 years' experience, RE5 and NQF4 (150
credits).
Read More
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Short Term Insurance
Representative: External Marketer/Service:
Venshaw Insurance Administrators, Bellville, Western Cape - The
candidate should be Xhosa speaking, and have completed RE5 and NQF4 (150
credits).
Read More
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Short Term Insurance
Representative: Claims Consultant:
Venshaw Insurance Administrators, Bellville, Western Cape - The
candidate should be Xhosa speaking, and have completed RE5 and NQF4 (150
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Broker Consultant:
CIA - Commercial & Industrial Acceptances Pty Ltd, Gauteng, East Rand
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Financial
Advisor/Planner:
KDO Group Johannesburg - The role involves selling of Hollard
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Senior Client Liaison
Officer:
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looking for a suitably qualified EE candidate.
Read More
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In Lighter Wyn |
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For the peace of all mankind |
Mrs. Ravioli comes to visit her son Anthony for dinner.
He lives with a female roommate, Maria.
During the course of the meal, his mother couldn't help but notice how
pretty Anthony's roommate is.
Over the course of the evening, while watching the two interact, she
started to wonder if there was more between Anthony and his roommate
than meet the eye.
Reading his mom's thoughts, Anthony volunteered, "I know what you
must be thinking, but I assure you, Maria and I are just
roommates.''
About a week later, Maria came to Anthony saying, "Ever since your
mother came to dinner, I've been unable to find the silver sugar
bowl. You don't suppose she took it, do you?"
"Well, I doubt it, but I'll email her, just to be sure." So he sat
down and wrote an email:
Dear Mama,
I'm not saying that you "did" take the sugar bowl from my house; I'm
not saying that you "did not" take it. But the fact remains that it
has been missing ever since you were here for dinner.
Your Loving Son,
Anthony
A few days later, Anthony received a response email from his Mama
which read:
Dear son,
I'm not saying that you "do" sleep with Maria, and I'm not saying
that you "do not" sleep with her. But the fact remains that if she
was sleeping in her OWN bed, she would have found the sugar bowl by
now.
Your Loving Mama
Moral:
Never Bulla Shita you Mama. |
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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
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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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