Amina Yuda

“Retrospective pension fund rule amendments not registered by FSCA do not bind members” says ConCourt

By Michelle David, Amina Yuda and Ntokozo Ngubane on August 23, 2023 Posted in Banking

The Constitutional Court has provided much needed certainty to the retirement fund industry following the surprising April 2022 judgment of the Supreme Court of Appeal in Municipal Employees Pension Fund & Another v Pandelani Midas Mudau and Another. On 02 August 2023, the Constitutional Court overturned the SCA judgment. The facts of the matter are … Continue reading

Proposed amendments to Collective Investment Scheme investment types (BN90/2014)

By Amina Yuda on March 8, 2023 Posted in Finance

Collective investment schemes (CIS), regulated under the Collective Investment Schemes Control Act, 2002, are subject to Board Notice 90 of 2014 (BN90). BN 90 prescribes the type of securities and assets, or particular classes of securities or assets that a CIS in securities may invest in and the limits applicable to such investment. On 6 … Continue reading

The tussle between non-payment of contributions and the application of prescription

By Amina Yuda on February 21, 2023 Posted in General

In 2022, in a decision handed down by the KwaZulu Natal High Court, held in Pietermaritzburg it was made clear that the failure by a pension fund to timeously collect arrear pension contributions from recalcitrant employers, will result in the fund not having a claim against the employer where the defence of prescription is raised … Continue reading

“Too late to have your matter reconsidered,” says the Financial Services Tribunal

By Amina Yuda on February 15, 2023 Posted in Finance

On 4 May 2022, the Financial Services Tribunal (Tribunal) dismissed an application for condonation in an application that was filed a year and a day later than the determination, which was the subject of the reconsideration. The grounds for the dismissal were, inter alia, that the pension fund and the respondents would be severely prejudiced. … Continue reading

“Misconduct is tantamount to dishonest conduct,” says the Financial Services Tribunal

By Amina Yuda on October 1, 2021 Posted in General

On 21 September 2021, the Financial Services Tribunal (“Tribunal”) in Royal Bafokeng Platinum Limited & Others v Pension Funds Adjudicator & Others, considered what constitutes “misconduct” as contemplated in section 37D of the Pension Funds Act, 1956 (“PFA”) and in which instances a member’s benefit may be reduced. In this case, the holding over by … Continue reading

Failure to submit valuation reports will result in the imposition of administrative penalties

By Amina Yuda on March 31, 2021 Posted in Banking

On 17 March 2021, the Financial Services Tribunal confirmed that failure to timeously submit an actuarial valuation can result in the imposition of administrative penalties on a pension fund. The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (“FSCA”) may take into consideration the number of days that the pension fund was late in submitting the actuarial valuation when … Continue reading

‘De bloedige hand’ principle and its application in s37C pension fund distributions

By Amina Yuda and Michelle David on September 22, 2020 Posted in General

The Pretoria High Court has refused to extend the ‘bloedige hand’ principle in instances where the beneficiary of a death benefit was the child of the deceased’s killer. The ‘bloedige hand’ principle holds that no person who unlawfully causes the death of another may inherit from the deceased. The deceased and his wife were killed … Continue reading

Skills and training Conduct Standard for pension fund trustees

By Amina Yuda on July 15, 2020 Posted in General

On 10 July 2020, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) published the awaited Conduct Standard prescribing the minimum skills and training requirements for members of the board of trustees of pension funds as contemplated in section 7A(3)(a) of the Pension Funds Act 1956, effective from date of publication. Section 7A(3)(a) requires the trustees of pension … Continue reading

FSCA publishes the conduct standard for banks

By Desiree Reddy (ZA) and Amina Yuda on July 9, 2020 Posted in Banking

When the Financial Sector Regulation Act (FSRA) was introduced in 2018, the FSCA was tasked with regulating and supervising the way banks conduct themselves in relation to the provision of financial products and services to customers. In fulfilment of this mandate, the FSCA has published a conduct standard for banks. The conduct standard is supported … Continue reading

Progressive changes for the retirement fund industry in FSCA draft Conduct Standards

By Amina Yuda on June 29, 2020 Posted in General

On 8 June 2020, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority published three draft conduct standards for public comment to be made by 31 July 2020. The purpose of the draft conduct standards is to regulate the: conditions for living annuities in an annuity strategy; communication of benefit projections to members of pension funds; and conditions for … Continue reading

Equitable Jurisdiction: The Pension Funds Adjudicator cannot make orders disregarding statutory provisions

By Amina Yuda and Michelle David on May 21, 2020 Posted in General

Since 1 April 2019, the Pension Funds Adjudicator has been empowered to apply the principles of equity in dealing with complaints. The concept of an equity jurisdiction has raised concerns in the industry due to its discretionary nature. The concept of ‘equitable jurisdiction’ has been the subject of a recent determination by the Financial Services … Continue reading

Grace period for pension funds with no remaining members to comply with the Pension Funds Act

By Amina Yuda on March 10, 2020 Posted in General

The Financial Sector Conduct Authority published a communication on 6 March 2020 aimed at pension funds who have no remaining members and still have historical outstanding actuarial valuation report submissions and outstanding annual financial statement submissions. The purpose of the communication is to set out the process to be followed by these pension funds in … Continue reading

PAJA applies to s37C Pension Funds Act decisions

By Amina Yuda on March 5, 2020 Posted in General

In February the high court confirmed that the Promotion of Administrative Justice Act (PAJA) applies to section 37C decisions on the distribution of death benefits made by the boards of retirement funds under the Pension Funds Act. In Mbatha v Transport Sector Retirement Fund and Salt Employee Benefits the court also confirmed the accepted principles … Continue reading

Draft Conduct Standard for Banks published

By Desiree Reddy (ZA) and Amina Yuda on May 3, 2019 Posted in Banking

The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has published a Draft Conduct Standard for Banks, under section 106(2)(b) of the Financial Sector Regulation Act 2017 (FSRA). The draft Conduct Standard applies to banks, mutual banks, co-operative banks, branches of foreign banks and representative offices of foreign banks (banks) and will apply in addition to any other … Continue reading