The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) recently published FSCA Communication 16 of 2021 (FAIS), which provides clarification on which reports are required for submission for 2021 as well as how to submit these reports.
Compliance Reports
In terms of the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services (FAIS) Act, FSPs are required to submit annual compliance reports to the FSCA, for the purpose of providing valuable information on the FSP’s operations and state of affairs for the reporting period.
As was the case for 2019 and 2020, FSPs will not be required to submit compliance reports to the FSCA for 2021 as the FSCA is still in the process of developing a Conduct of Business Report (CBR) that is set to replace the compliance report once finalised, and will be applicable to all regulated entities.
FSPs that have not submitted the required compliance reports from date of approval up to 2018, are still required to submit these outstanding reports. Failure to submit outstanding Compliance reports may lead to regulatory action being instituted against such non-compliant FSPs.
Handover Reports
Where the appointment of a Compliance Officer of an FSP is terminated, the Compliance Officer must submit a handover report to the FSCA detailing the reasons he/she believes to be the reason(s) for the termination. The FSCA has announced that there will be no prescribed format for a handover report during 2021. Therefore, a handover report can be provided to the FSCA in any form and manner, including an e-mail or letter from the Compliance Officer. Such letter or email should at least contain the reasons for and the effective date of the resignation.
Irregularity Reports
Compliance Officers are still required to submit an irregularity report to the FSCA where the Compliance Officer is aware of any material irregularity or suspected irregularity by the FSP. Where a Compliance Officer resigns from an FSP and is aware of any material irregularity or suspected irregularity by the FSP, the Compliance Officer must submit an irregularity report in addition to the handover report.