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FAIS Fit and Proper Requirements: Proposed New Definition of Qualifications

A lot of disgruntled FSPs who were upset that their qualifications were not recognised as being sufficiently comprehensive in terms of the qualifying criteria may soon find some respite.

In December, the FSB published proposed amendments to the Fit and Proper requirements. This draft is open for comment until 31 January 2012.

One aspect that may be of particular interest to those who are still uncertain about whether their qualifications are indeed “recognised”, concerns the proposed new definition of a qualification. The following wording appeared in the 2008 version of the Fit and Proper determination:

“qualification means a qualification that is -

1. registered by SAQA;
2. an extracurricular specialist programme offered at a post-graduate level by an Institution of Higher Education;
3. an industry or professional programme offered through a professional body recognised by the Registrar or accredited training provider; or
4. a foreign qualification similar to qualifications in (a) to (c) above

and has been evaluated against the qualifying criteria and is recognised by the Registrar, after consultation with the Advisory Committee.

The proposed amendment contains a substantially expanded definition:

Amendment of Part I of the Schedule to the Fit and Proper Determination Notice
2. Part I of the Schedule to the Fit and Proper Determination Notice is hereby amended-
(a) by the insertion of the following definitions:
“CHE” means the Council for Higher Education;
“QCTO” means the Quality Council for Trades and Occupations.
(b) by the replacement of the definition of “qualification”:
“qualification” includes qualifications that are -
(i) registered by SAQA, the CHE or the QCTO, which can be either an award, a certificate, a diploma or a degree at undergraduate or postgraduate level; or
(ii) a qualification obtained prior to the promulgation of the South African Qualifications Act, 1995, or before the implementation of the National Qualifications Framework in 2001, that does not consist of unit standards registered by SAQA: Provided that-
(aa) such qualification was obtained through a South African educational institution or training provider and recorded by the Human Sciences Research Council; and
(bb) the modules or subjects are clearly identified on the learner record provided by the educational institution or training provider; or
(iii) an industry or professional programme offered through a professional body recognised by the Registrar or accredited training provider; or
(iv) a fully completed foreign qualification similar to qualifications in (i) to (iii) above and has been evaluated against the qualifying criteria and is recognised by the Registrar;
Provided further that all qualifications or programmes must be fully completed and meet the requirements of appropriateness, which means-
(A) that an “appropriate” award, certificate, diploma, skills programme or degree, refers to such qualifications obtained in the fields of commerce and/or commercial law which includes modules on financial accounting, financial markets, commercial law, insurance law, estate and trust law, economics, insurance, investments and similar subjects; or
(B) other particular fields of study which equip such person to render a financial service in a specialised class of financial product, registered by SAQA, the CHE or the QCTO and provided by a registered educational institution/ provider whether local or foreign.

Once the proposals are accepted, we will advise readers on the steps required to have their qualifications verified.

Please note that these are proposals only, and should under no circumstances influence your preparation for the RE’s.

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