Government Gazette No. 41947 published on 28 September 2018 contains two Notices from National Treasury. The Notices relate to commencement dates of the Financial Sector Regulation Act (FSRA) and the commencement date of the repeal of various sections of the Long-term and Short-term Insurance Acts.
Key points of the Notices
Chapter 14 of the FSRA that deals with Ombuds was meant to commence on 1 October 2018 but has now been delayed until 1 April 2019. Consequently, the impact on FAIS is that the insertion of the definition of “Ombud Council” into the definitions in the FAIS Act has also been delayed until 1 April 2019.
The amendment of section 20(3) in the FAIS Act that deals with the objective of the Ombud, has also been delayed until 1 April 2019.
New commencement dates announced in the Government Gazette to be aware of are:
Section 9(1)(d) of the FAIS Act that deals with suspension and withdrawal of authorisation was amended with effect from 28 September 2018 and now reads:
“The Authority may, … at any time suspend or withdraw any licence …. if satisfied, … that the licensee – … (d) has failed to pay a levy, an administrative penalty, or any interest in respect thereof;”
Therefore, FSPs risk licence suspension and withdrawal of authorisation if they fail to pay their levies, any administrative penalty, or any interest accrued in relation to the levy or administrative penalty.
Click here to read the Government Gazette No. 41947