We’re sure many people are heavily focused on completing their Continuous Professional Development hours by the end of the month. There’s still time to complete the necessary hours if you haven’t, and we’re sure there won’t be a last-minute rush next year!
THE FINANCIAL SECTOR CONDUCT AUTHORITY (FSCA)
FSCA Regulatory Strategy for 2025-2028
The FSCA has released its Regulatory Strategy for 2025-2028, which outlines its strategic direction for the next three years.
The major focus will be on preparing for the implementation of the Conduct of Financial Institutions (COFI) Bill. This involves the development of a regulatory framework that aims to refine licensing and supervisory approaches and align them with the principles of the COFI Bill. They are also preparing to regulate new activities that will fall within their jurisdiction under the COFI Bill.
To accommodate this, the FSCA will be implementing a revised supervisory technology system, part of which has already been released.
Exemption of Lloyd’s open market correspondents
The FSCA issued an exemption for Lloyd’s open market correspondents. The exemption means that the intermediaries are not required to apply for approval of each transaction placed into the Lloyd’s open market.
There are provisions included that require Lloyd’s to record, report, and have suitable governance controls in place.
Warnings
We thought we’d move this further down as this has become a regular item and is essentially now a list of scams and impersonations. In this month’s list:
- Individuals are impersonating Brenthurst Wealth Management (Pty) Ltd on WhatsApp, even going so far as to create deepfakes of the directors.
- Nicolette Mashile, the founder of Financial Fitness Bunnies (Pty) Ltd, is the victim of an impersonation scam on Telegram.
- The chief financial officer of FirstRand Bank Limited, Markos Davias, is being impersonated in another Telegram scam.
- The public were warned against dealing with Nhlakanipho Sangweni who is suspected of providing financial services without authorisation and is soliciting funds from members of the public by promising unrealistically high returns on investments.
- Another Telegram scam is purportedly being run by Lethabo Molefe, again offering unrealistic returns on a R900 “investment”.
- Aluma Capital (Pty) Ltd and its representatives, Leon Hart and Leonie Nortje are being impersonated on Telegram. It would appear obvious that 100% returns are not possible, but members of the public are still being caught out.
- Smart Initial Trades is using social media to sell forex shares to investors, while unlawfully using the iTransact Investment Platform branding, a registered trademark of Automated Outsourcing Services (Pty) Ltd, without authorisation. Smart Initial Trades is also charging excessive fees and requiring compulsory upgrades in order to access their funds.
- Salvo Capital (Pty) Ltd is being impersonated on Instagram and other social media platforms in relation to investments.
- An entity, operating under the names Freedom 27, Freedom 27 Trading LLC, and/or Mirabaud Group Ltd, is using Atriafinancial SA (Pty) Ltd’s company details on its website and falsely reference Atriafinancial’s financial services provider (FSP) number as its own licence number.
- Mzwandile Ngcobo is using a WhatsApp account titled “Stanlib WhatsApp Investment Group” to impersonate Stanlib.
- Ameritindexmarket is soliciting funds from members of the public for investment purposes through Facebook and Instagram, and is promising unrealistic returns within 12 hours. In addition, Ameritindexmarket is not authorised in terms of any financial sector law to provide financial services to the public in South Africa.
- A notice to exercise caution when engaging with Jim Jackson and TradonaFXOnline was issued. Jackson is offering unauthorised financial services via WhatsApp, He solicits cryptocurrency investments by promising high returns. He also requests additional deposits in order to release the funds.
- Similar to the above, a warning was issued regarding The Ghost Father of Forex and Zaahir Witbooi. Members are recruited through TikTok and provided with signals, forex trading, and investment services.
- Persons are imitating BDSWISS Markets SA (Pty) Ltd on Telegram. The group is soliciting funds from the public and promising returns of 100%.
Debarment of Petrus Erasmus
The FSCA debarred Petrus Rasmus Erasmus for five years and imposed an administrative penalty of R1,180,000 on him. The investigation showed that Erasmus offered and acted as an FSP without being authorised to do so. Among other things, Erasmus collected funds from members of the public and utilised those funds to trade in Contracts for Difference incurring substantial losses. Erasmus also furnished financial advice to his clients by providing them with trading signals, many clients incurring losses.
FINANCIAL INTELLIGENCE CENTRE (FIC)
Ninety One Fund Managers fined R3 million
In its capacity as the regulator empowered to impose penalties on financial institutions, the FSCA fined Ninety One Fund Managers SA (RF) (Pty) Ltd R3 million for breaching sections of the FIC Act.
Specifically, Ninety One had not effectively implemented its Risk Management and Compliance Programme (RMCP). Additionally, the RMCP was technically deficient and did not adequately address the requirement to perform customer due diligence when suspicious or unusual activities were identified or determine whether a transaction is reportable as related to terrorist financing.
Following an appeal by Ninety One, R500,000 of the penalty was suspended.
PRUDENTIAL AUTHORITY (PA)
PA imposes administrative sanctions
It’s unlikely that any bank in South Africa has not received a penalty for contravention of the anti-money laundering legislation – there are so many transactions it’s inevitable.
Absa Bank was the recent recipient of sanctions for inadequately following its client verification procedures and tardy reporting of cash transactions.
The fines totalled R10 million, which is ultimately borne by the consumer at the end of the day…
Administrative sanctions were also imposed on Donaldson Global Investments (Pty) Ltd for failure to implement its RMCP, including its Targeted Financial Sanctions reviews. The fine was R200,000, of which R100,000 was suspended for three years.
Draft directive on large exposures
The PA informed the banking industry of a draft directive in which banks are required to apply specific conditions and/or limits for measuring and controlling large exposures and the criteria the PA considers when assessing the composition of the bank’s committee appointed to manage large exposures.
This is an enhancement of banks’ risk management requirement to not make investments with, or extend credit to, any person to an aggregate amount exceeding 10% of the bank’s capital and reserves without first having obtained the approval of the bank’s Board or a committee which has been approved by the PA.
Comments can be submitted to SARB-PA@resbank.co.za and RSD-CreditRisk@resbank.co.za.
INFORMATION REGULATOR (IR)
PAIA Returns
A reminder that all companies are required to complete the annual PAIA return by 30 June 2025. The report is accessible to Information Officers and Deputy Information Officers here. Provided your company has had no information requests, it should be a relatively quick exercise to complete.
OMBUDS
Ombud Council Plans
The Ombud Council released its Annual Performance Plan for 2025-2026 and Strategic Plan for 2025-2030. The main focus of its plans in the five-year period is the continuing amalgamation of the various ombud schemes.
The plan is to combine the Pension Funds Adjudicator, FAIS Ombud, and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange Ombud Scheme into the Retirement Fund Ombud and the National Financial Ombud Scheme (Ed: version 2.0). The next step after the five years would be to combine these bodies into the final version of the National Financial Ombud Scheme.
A-PROOFED
Proofreading in a regulated world: a quiet but crucial step
If you’ve ever read a financial services legislative update – and I read them closely – you’ll know they often reveal more than just regulatory shifts. Behind the fines, exemptions, draft directives, and warnings are stories about how things go wrong. And quite often, those stories are rooted in language.
Not necessarily bad writing. Just unclear, inconsistent, or imprecise writing. A policy that doesn’t quite explain how a risk is managed. A report that omits a key detail. A scam message that nearly passes as legitimate – until you pause and read it properly.
It’s a reminder that proofreading isn’t just about fixing typos or tightening sentences. It’s about paying attention to how words work, and whether they’re doing the job they’re meant to do.
That job might be ensuring that a compliance document meets regulatory standards. It might be protecting a company’s reputation in a public-facing statement. Or it might be helping a reader spot that something in a WhatsApp investment pitch feels off, because it’s written in a way that doesn’t sound quite right.
The legislative updates Bryan compiles every month often highlight this. There are fines where a written policy didn’t meet regulatory expectations. There are warnings about scams that rely on social media impersonation. In all of these, language plays a role, whether it’s in how an organisation presents itself or how a fraudster mimics legitimacy.
That’s why proofreading matters, quietly but critically. It’s not just a final check; it’s part of how we reduce risk, build trust, and protect credibility. Especially in regulated sectors, where one misunderstood phrase can lead to confusion, or worse, to regulatory action.
For me, it’s also a discipline of care. It’s about slowing down, reading closely, and asking the right questions: Is this accurate? Is it complete? Could it be misinterpreted?
Proofreading won’t grab headlines. But it often helps you avoid the ones you don’t want to see.
Before you publish, submit, or send, let me take a look. It’s amazing what the right pair of eyes can catch.
Kim Hatchuel
083 657 3377 | kim@a-proofed.co.za
www.a-proofed.co.za
