This article was co-authored by: Kristen de Wet, Candidate Attorney
The deputy governor of the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) has confirmed that the trading of cryptocurrency in South Africa will be regulated within the next 12 to 18 months from 12 July 2022.
The use of cryptocurrency in South Africa is prevalent and recent
On 20 November 2020, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority issued a draft Declaration of Crypto Assets as a Financial Product under the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act 2002 (FAIS Act). The Declaration will be made in terms paragraph (h) of the definition of ‘financial product’ in the FAIS Act, which provides that a financial
On 28 September 2020, National Treasury released the second draft Bill regulating the conduct of Financial Institutions, for comment.
The aim of the Bill is to impose conduct standards for financial institutions to protect financial customers.
The Bill is the second peak of the Twin Peaks model and will require market conduct that
Almost two years after the landmark Constitutional Court judgment legalising the private use of cannabis, the Bill regulating Cannabis for Private Purposes has been introduced. The Bill arrives just in time to meet the deadline set by the Constitutional Court in September 2018 and follows the trail blazed by other countries in legalising cannabis
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:
Following the President’s address on 23 July 2020, the re-closing of public schools for four weeks has left most questioning why public schools are forced to take the four week break and private schools are not. Although grade 12’s will only be taking a week break and grade 7’s two weeks, this blog is focused
During a virtual meeting held on 10 June 2020, Cabinet approved the Financial Sector Laws Amendment Bill of 2020, for submission to Parliament. In the first step to formalising a resolution process for financially distressed banks, the Bill proposes to designate the SARB as the Resolution Authority, and enhances the SARB’s regulatory tools for discharging
Since the declaration of a national state of disaster in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, South Africans have been presented almost daily with announcements, as well as regulations and directions issued in terms of the Disaster Management Act (DMA). Regulations and directions are formal law, but a regulator does not have the legal authority to
The lockdown period has been extended to 30 April 2020.
The Disaster Management Regulations related to COVID-19 therefore still apply, with some changes. The changes aim to manage the remainder of the lockdown and to enable a phased and controlled return to normal economic and social activity.
Here are the main takeaways from the amended
On 24 March 2020, in recognition of the impact of the current COVID-19 pandemic on the financial services industry, the FSCA released general communication 9 of 2020 which sets out relaxations of regulatory requirements.
In summary, the FSCA has granted:
Financial services providers