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Moonstone Monitor - 21 June 2018 |
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All you have in business is your reputation - so it's very important that
you keep your word - Richard Branson |
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From the Crow's Nest |
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First FSCA Tribunal Judgement handed down |
On 1 April 2018 a Financial Sector Tribunal was established, replacing
the former FSB Appeal Board. The Tribunal, which any entity aggrieved by an FSCA
decision can approach for adjudication, handed down its first judgment on 28 May
2018 in the Neluhenis case.
The appeal was against the withdrawal of the appellant’s authorisation to act as
a financial service provider by Financial Sector Conduct Authority on the
grounds that the appellant did not satisfy the fit and proper requirements of
the Act, especially those relating to honesty and integrity.
The case against the appellant
During 2013, the Registrar received information from two FSPs that the appellant
had forged the signatures of clients and submitted false policy applications. A
suspicion arose because of the unusually high number of policy applications
submitted by the appellant during April 2013 which lapsed due to non-payment.
The FSPs contacted a random selection of the applicants, and in nine instances
found confirmation that the signatures were forged and the policies false. They
obtained affidavits from the applicants and, in some instances, a forensic
handwriting report, which confirmed their suspicion.
The appellant was confronted with the allegations by the FSPs but denied any
knowledge of forgery. Although they requested his statement and underlying
documents that would have disproved the allegations against him, he did not
comply with it.
The appellant submitted four affidavits from persons involved. All were sworn to
at the same time at a police station far away from where the deponents lived on
19 October 2016. They were in the same handwriting and contained the same
information, namely that they had signed the application forms and that they did
not pay the premiums because of a change in financial situation.
The deponents did not explain or refer to their earlier affidavits and
statements to the contrary. The appellant also attached copies of the IDs and in
each instance a financial document that had no relevance to the April 2013
period.
The appellant supplied further material in support of his innocence, which led
to reconsideration by the Registrar of her decision. Interviews were conducted
with six of the clients and affidavits obtained confirming the content of their
statements to the Registrar’s officials. The Registrar concluded that it was
apparent from the affidavits and transcripts that the complainants had either
been misled or were unduly influenced by the appellant to provide contradictory
statements.
The appellant’s response to all the additional material gathered by the
Registrar was that the affidavits obtained by the Registrar were not acceptable
and the versions in them were the result of influence or threats by the
Registrar’s office and as a result should be ignored.
The grounds for the appeal
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The first was that the appellant never misrepresented facts or committed fraud
when he submitted the business at various business houses.
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The other was that he did not forge any person's signature or fabricate
relevant information.
Despite the limited grounds of appeal, counsel for the appellant during the
hearing raised several additional grounds which he was not entitled to do. These
additional grounds were not be dealt with in the judgement.
Registrar’s response
In her first decision, the Registrar analysed a number of policies in the names
of several applicants and she concluded that, on the available facts, these
applications were done without the knowledge and consent of the clients, relying
in this regard on affidavits and where appropriate on signature analyses. The
authenticity of the affidavits was further questionable.
In her final determination, which followed upon the interviews with the clients
and the affidavits submitted, she concluded that the appellant had either misled
or unduly influenced the relevant complainants to depose to contradictory
statements or affidavits and letters. This justified the conclusion that the
appellant was no longer a fit and proper person to act as a financial services
provider.
Tribunal conclusions
Several questions arose:
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Why, instead of giving a simple explanation of lack of finances or change of
mind, would the appellant’s clients falsely and unnecessarily accuse the
appellant?
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Why would his clients make untrue allegations against him if there was no
reason to do so?
The next problem relates to the four client affidavits. The Registrar
highlighted her concerns and the improbabilities surrounding them. The appellant
did not provide any explanation.
All the interviews and affidavits all point to one thing only and that is that
the concerns about the four client affidavits were justified and that the
appellant either misled or unduly influenced the complainants to depose to
contradictory statements, affidavits, letters or versions.
The appellant’s only response was that the conflicting affidavit cannot be
accepted and that the Registrar either influenced or threatened the persons to
give different versions. The allegations were not based on fact.
The conclusion
Not surprisingly, the appeal was dismissed. |
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Your Practice Made Perfect |
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Medical Schemes Amendment Bill and the NHI BIll |
On 21 June 2018, the Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi will
address the members of the media to unpack the National Health Insurance
(NHI) Bill as approved by the Cabinet. Minister Motsoaledi will also use
the platform to present on the Medical Schemes Amendment Bill.
During a debate on his budget in the National Council of Provinces on
Tuesday he mentioned to the media that equalising health care for both
rich and poor will be a challenge.
“On Thursday this week, I’ll be releasing two bills to the nation, the
Medical Schemes Amendment Bill and the NHI Bill. As you’ve already
noticed, a storm is already brewing furiously in the media. Actually, on
Thursday, I don’t expect a storm – I expect a hurricane.” he told EWN.
Legalbrief Today notes:
BusinessLIVE reports that the content of both Bills, which have been
approved by Cabinet but have yet to be published in the Government
Gazette for comment, are keenly awaited by consumers and industry alike
as they contain potentially wide-reaching reforms. The NHI Bill is the
first enabling piece of legislation for the government’s NHI policy,
which aims to introduce universal healthcare. Its goal is to provide
healthcare services that are free at the point of delivery. The Bill is
expected to closely follow the government’s NHI White Paper and
establish an NHI fund to pay for healthcare services, but will not
provide the details of how NHI is to be financed. The Medical Schemes
Amendment Bill paves the way for reforms to the medical scheme industry.
Click here to read the full BusinessLIVE report. |
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Information Regulator reacts to Liberty data breach
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The Information Regulator has requested an urgent meeting with Liberty
Holdings CEO David Munro to understand how its data was breached,
according to a TimesLIVE report.
The Information Regulator chairperson Advocate Pansy Tlakula also
requested the following from Liberty:
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the extent and contents of the data breach
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what interim measures have been put in place to prevent further
breaches; and
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if those affected by the breach have been informed.
Tlakula said the Protection of Personal Information Act (Popia) has only
partly come into effect‚ but section 19 of the Act requires companies to
ensure the personal information it possesses is secure.
‘SA has experienced a disturbingly high number of material data breaches
in the past few months‚’ Tlakula said. ‘Without a fully functional
Information Regulator‚ these breaches will continue to occur without
sanctions provided for in Popia. These data breaches underscore the
(need for the) urgent establishment of the regulator.’
Click here to read the full TimesLIVE report. |
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Debarments: what has changed?
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This was one of the topics discussed at the Moonstone Regulatory Update
workshops.
The FSCA recently released a debarment notice under section 14 where the
rather cumbersome “Form and manner of debarment notification for
representatives” was replaced by a far more user-friendly document
contained in FSCA FAIS Notice 17 of 2018.
The original debarment process was a flawed attempt at justice, and
replaced in its entirety. The new section 14 provides substantially more
requirements, including the stipulation that “…the provider must ensure
that the debarment process is lawful, reasonable and procedurally fair.”
Patrick Cairns of Moneyweb attended the Cape Town workshop and discusses
the revamp of the debarment process in his article
“Debarment process gets a revamp” on the Moneyweb website. |
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Professional Principal Executive Officer Qualification
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Registration for the second intake of this prestigious qualification
is now open.
“I have enjoyed the course thus far and found the material very
helpful in the work I do. The course coordinators have been
exceptionally helpful.”
“The course succeeds in the proper preparation of a student. The
assignments are spot on to test knowledge and to prepare one for the
type of questions that will be asked in the final exam.”
These are some of the views of the February intake of learners
studying towards the recently developed Professional Principal
Executive Officer Qualification.
This is the first occupational qualification which provides
recognition of competence in learners who wish to formalise their
education and experience with a view to enhancing their career
prospects. This includes trustees, and a wide variety of other
employee benefits functionaries.
Moonstone Business School of Excellence, (MBSE ) is the first
training provider who offers this qualification.
Successful learners will be linked to the professional designations
offered by Batseta, the professional body for the profession. The
learning pathway will include the Retirement Fund Trustee
qualification.
The February 2018 intake has already commenced, however
registrations for the July 2018 intake opened on the 18th of
June 2018. Registrations will close on the 15th of
July 2018, and the course will commence on the 30th of
July 2018.
You are welcome to contact Frans-Petrus Zeelie at 087 702 6429, or email
frans@mbse.ac.za, who will gladly assist with any questions.
To register, click
here, then on
Enrol today, select Qualifications and
finally click on the Professional Principal Executive Officer button.
For more information, please
click here.
For general queries you may also email us at
learning@mbse.ac.za.
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Technologically Speaking
Moonstone Information Refinery
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Social media: the need for a proper policy |
Linda Graham of FinCommunications recently commented in her article
“Social media for financial services: all the good and none of the
bad” that social media is here to stay, and modern-day employment
contracts should govern its use so that both employers and employees
know where they stand. She emphasised that nowhere is this truer
than in the strictly regulated financial services industry, where
one wayward tweet could result in a very expensive lawsuit.
In her article she shares the importance of a comprehensive social
media policy as well as the main items that should be listed in such
a policy to guide employees with regards to the use of social media.
“Social media is never the place to give advice. There is simply
zero chance that you can get insight into someone’s full set of
financial circumstances from a few tweets or Facebook comments”, she
says.
Click here to read
her article.
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Regulatory Examinations
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Regulatory exams on track with
Moonstone |
The FSCA reported last week that there will be no interruptions for
those candidates who were scheduled to write regulatory exams with the
FPI as everything has been co-ordinated. Whilst the investigation is
underway Moonstone took over responsibility for all examinations.
Moonstone’s Sheila Olckers, head of regulatory examinations, gives
candidates the following reassurance. “Nobody needs to worry; we are able to handle
very high volumes. The exams will go ahead as planned”, she says.
There should be no concerns about venues as, in fact, those who elected
to write with the FPI now also have access to all Moonstone’s venues as
well.
She mentioned that those who were scheduled to write with the FPI should
have already received notifications that their exam is being moved to
Moonstone, and they will receive a further notification from Moonstone
to confirm their booking and directions to the venue where they will
write.
The FPI shared a few logistics:
Exam fees
Exam fees already paid to FPI will be transferred to Moonstone, so you
will incur no additional costs. Exam fees not yet paid will still need
to be paid to FPI directly as per FSCA’s exam payment policy and will be
transferred to Moonstone at a later stage. Please forward proof of
payment to FPI and to
pop@moonstoneinfo.co.za at Moonstone.
Invoices
We are unable at this stage to issue invoices or process refunds for
exam cancellations, but will do so as soon as possible.
Previous results
Previous results obtained through FPI are not affected, however, at this
stage we are unable to re-issue RE Certificates or verify past results.
We are, however, working on a solution to this problem which will become
available shortly.
Our sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused, and good luck for
you exam!
FPI Examination Body
Feel free to contact Anna or Michelle at 011 470 6100 for assistance
with any queries related to exams up to 12 June 2018.
Contact Moonstone directly at
faisexam@moonstoneinfo.co.za or 021 883 8000 for future bookings and
assistance. |
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How to prepare for the REs |
INSETA UPDATE: The updated materials have placed them on their
website and can be accessed via:
http://www.inseta.org.za/inner.aspx?section=4&page=57
The FSCA strongly recommends the use of its
Preparation Guide to prepare for the exams.
The FSCA Preparation Guide suggests the following approach
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STEP |
ACTIVITY |
DESCRIPTION |
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1 |
Refer to the
mapping document for the exam you are planning
to write. |
This is the map of
the tasks/criteria that will be assessed in your
exam, and it contains a reference to the
relevant legislation that you are required to
study in order to understand the task /
criteria. Appendix A in the Preparation Guide |
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2 |
Look at the number
of criteria for each task. |
These are the
knowledge and skill components you require to be
able to perform.
RE 1 has 16 tasks that will be tested
RE 5 has 8 tasks that will be tested
If you have studied all the criteria for every
task, then you would be properly prepared to
write the RE 1 or RE 5 – whichever exam applies to
you. |
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3 |
To prepare for the
exam, you must spend time each day and study the
legislation and supporting training material.
One should systematically select one criteria at
a time. |
Group the criteria
together in groups of 3 or 4 and allocate study
hours per day to prepare. The total number of
hours will individually differ due to ones
circumstances. At least 2 hours per day is the
suggested number of hours. |
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4 |
To start, read the
task, and then the first criteria. Then refer to
the legislation for these criteria, and read the
legislation referred to. |
It is important to
first read the legislation so that you can see
what terms are used and how the legislation is
structured. |
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5 |
Now refer to the
additional support or training material and study
the section in the training material dealing
with those particular criteria. |
The support
material explains the particular concepts in
simple language so that it is easier to
understand what the legislation is actually
saying and what it means. |
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6 |
Then go back to the
legislation itself, and read it again.
Where there are discrepancies, ALWAYS regard the
legislation as being correct. |
Now that you have
gained a better understanding of what the
legislation is about, you may find reading the
legislation again will make more sense to you if
you didn’t understand it the first time around. |
An alternative that you may want to consider is the
LexisNexis Legislation Handbook for RE 1 (key individual)
and RE 5 (representative) exams.
The 5th edition of the Handbook has just been
released and provides the latest legislation specified as
relevant to the regulatory exams RE 1 and 5.
The Handbook has been divided into 5 sections with shaded
tabs on the side for easy access:
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TAB A: FAIS Act and Regulations
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TAB B: Code of Conduct
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TAB C: Fit and Proper
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TAB D: General Acts, Board Notices and Guidance Notes
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TAB E: FIC Act, Regulations and Guidance Notes
The Handbook together with its Preparation Guides provides a
good source to study for the exams. Click here to download
the LexisNexis Preparation Guide for
RE 1 and
RE 5.
The LexisNexis Legislation Handbook has now been updated with all
the new legislation effective from 1 April 2018.
Click here to order your copy from our Advisor Store. |
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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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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. |
| • |
Moonstone boasts an exclusive newsletter mailing list of over 51000
dedicated financial decision makers who receive 2 newsletters per week. |
| • |
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 |
-
2 x Marketing
Assistants:
HIC Underwriting Managers Pty Ltd, Bedfordview - We are looking for
two assistants to manage the relationship between the Portfolio Manager
and Broker. Must be able to work under pressure and be deadline driven.
Read More
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Cooke Fuller Garrun, Kloof, KZN - The ideal candidate should have at
least 5 years experience in Commercial and Personal claims and must be
FAIS qualified.
Read More
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In Lighter Wyn |
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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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