Ntokozo Ngubane

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The in duplum rule does not apply to late payment interest on arrear pension fund contributions owed by participating employers

By Ntokozo Ngubane on September 15, 2023 Posted in Finance

Since 2020, most retirement funds have been faced with a situation where participating employers have failed to comply with section 13A of the Pension Funds Act, 1956 (PFA), by either underpaying employer or member contributions or not paying at all. The non-payment of contributions attracts late payment interest in terms of section 13(7) of the … Continue reading

“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

Exemption of banks in respect of certain clients extended to 30 June 2025

By Ntokozo Ngubane and Desiree Reddy (ZA) on June 28, 2023 Posted in Banking, Finance

The exemption of Banks in respect of financially sophisticated and high-wealth corporate clients, referred to as the Merchant Banking Exemption (BN 103 of 2004), was extended by FAIS Notice 35 of 2023 until 30 June 2025. The clients covered under the Exemption include other banks, central banks, insurers (life and non-life insurers), asset managers who … Continue reading

Regulation on Crypto Assets

By Desiree Reddy (ZA) and Ntokozo Ngubane on October 20, 2022 Posted in Finance

In general notice 1350 of 2022, effective as of 19 October 2022, the FSCA has formally declared a crypto asset as a financial product under the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act, 2002. The declaration marks the first step in crypto asset regulation, in South Africa, and follows a draft declaration published in 2020 and … Continue reading

Jurisdiction of Pension Funds Adjudicator and Financial Services Tribunal over non-participating employers

By Ntokozo Ngubane and Michelle David on March 3, 2022 Posted in General

On 23 February 2022, the Financial Services Tribunal (FST) reinforced that an employee who does not have a “complaint” as provided for, in section 30A of the Pension Funds Act,1956 (PFA) cannot have recourse under the PFA. The fact of the case are: The applicant was employed as a truck driver by during the period … Continue reading

Regulation of crypto assets at the door: A further step following the declaration of crypto assets

By Desiree Reddy (ZA) and Ntokozo Ngubane on October 22, 2021 Posted in Finance

In a draft declaration issued on 20 November 2020, the FSCA proposed to include crypto assets as a category of financial product under the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act, 2002 (“FAIS”). We wrote about this previously, here. Speaking to the draft declaration in a September 2021 media briefing, Ms Olaotse Matshane, Chairperson of the … Continue reading

There is no direct access to the Pension Funds Adjudicator

By Ntokozo Ngubane on September 8, 2021 Posted in General

The Pension Funds Act, 1956 (“PFA”) is the primary legislation regulating retirement funds. Section 30A of the PFA provides that any person who has a complaint as defined in section 1 “may lodge a written complaint with the retirement fund for consideration by the board, which must be properly considered and responded to within 30 … Continue reading

Pension Funds: Section 37D(1)(b)(ii) and Employer requests to withhold member benefits

By Ntokozo Ngubane and Michelle David on March 24, 2021 Posted in General

In February 2021, the Financial Services Tribunal (“FST”) in L.S Ngqengelele v Afrisam South Africa (Pty) Ltd considered the question of when a fund may withhold and deduct money from a member’s benefit in accordance with section 37D(1)(b)(ii) of the Pension Funds Act (“PFA”). Section 37D(1)(b)(ii) of the PFA, allows a fund to deduct from … Continue reading

Amendments to the Financial Sector Regulations published

By Ntokozo Ngubane and Michelle David on August 18, 2020 Posted in General

The Minister of Finance, has published amendments to the Financial Sector Regulations under Gazette 43581 intended to simplify the process of appointing the Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner of the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA). The amendments provide that: The Minister must re-appoint a shortlisting panel (two panellists being the Deputy Govrnor of the South African … Continue reading

Jurisdiction of the Financial Services Tribunal: medical scheme matters

By Ntokozo Ngubane on July 9, 2020 Posted in General

A medical scheme aggrieved by a decision of the Registrar for Medical Schemes must appeal to the Council for Medical Schemes and not the Financial Services Tribunal, even if the decision relates, broadly, to financial sector laws. In Medihelp Medical Scheme v The Registrar for Medical Schemes and Another, the Council for Medical Schemes, instituted … Continue reading

COVID-19 and the potential use of medical scheme reserves

By Ntokozo Ngubane and Michelle David on April 16, 2020 Posted in General

Medical scheme trustees cannot take a business as usual approach during the COVID-19 pandemic. Boards should be giving thought to the value of their reserves and whether using such reserves would be of benefit to members. At a minimum, trustees need to understand the options available to them when considering using scheme reserves. In terms … Continue reading