South Africa
Financial Sector Regulation Act, 2017
Conduct Standard for Banks
Standard 3 of 2020
- Published on 3 July 2020
- There are multiple commencements
- [This is the version of this document from 3 July 2020.]
Provisions | Status |
---|---|
Section 1–2, section 11 | commenced on 3 July 2020. |
Section 3–6 | commenced on 3 March 2021. |
Section 7–10 | commenced on 3 July 2021. |
1. Definitions
In this Conduct Standard,"the Act" means the Financial Sector Regulation Act, 2017 (Act No. 9 of 2017), and any word or expression to which a meaning has been assigned in the Act bears the meaning so assigned to it unless the context otherwise indicates, and—"advertisement" means any communication published through any medium and in any form, by itself or together with any other communication, which is intended to create public interest in the business, financial products or financial services of a bank, or to persuade the public (or a part thereof) to transact in relation to a financial product or financial service of the bank in any manner, but which does not purport to provide detailed information to or for a specific financial customer regarding a specific financial product or financial service and "advertise" and "advertising" have corresponding meanings;"Authority" means the Financial Sector Conduct Authority as defined in section 1 of the Act;"bank" means a bank as defined in the Banks Act, a mutual bank as defined in the Mutual Banks Act, 1993 (Act No. 124 of 1993) and a co-operative bank as defined in the Co-operative Banks Act, 2007 (Act No. 40 of 2007);"compensation" means the provision of money, or a benefit or service, by or on behalf of a bank to a complainant to compensate the complainant for a proven or estimated financial loss incurred as a result of the bank's non-compliance, action, failure to act, or unfair treatment forming the basis of the complaint, where the bank accepts liability for having caused the loss concerned, but excludes any—(a)goodwill payment;(b)payment contractually due to the complainant in terms of a product or service agreement with the bank; or(c)refund of an amount paid by or on behalf of the complainant to the bank where such payment was not contractually due;and includes any interest on late payment of any amount referred to in paragraphs (b) or (c);"complainant" means a person who has submitted a specific complaint to a bank and who—(a)is a financial customer or potential financial customer of the bank concerned and has a direct interest in the financial product or financial service to which the complaint relates; or(b)has submitted the complaint on behalf of a person mentioned in paragraph (a), provided that a potential financial customer will only be regarded as a complainant to the extent that the complaint relates to the potential financial customer's dissatisfaction in relation to the activities contemplated in the definition of "potential financial customer";"complaint" means an expression of dissatisfaction by a person to a bank or, to the knowledge of the bank, to the bank’s service provider relating to a financial product or financlal service provided or offered by that bank which indicates or alleges, regardless of whether such an expression of dissatisfaction is submitted together with or in relation to a customer query, that—(a)the bank or its service provider has contravened or failed to comply with an agreement, a law, a rule, or a code of conduct which is binding on the bank or to which it subscribes;(b)the bank or its service provider's maladministration or wilful or negligent action or failure to act, has caused the person harm, prejudice, distress or substantial inconvenience; or(c)the bank or its service provider has treated the person unfairly;"effective annual interest rate" is the interest rate restated from the nominal interest rate as an interest rate with annual compound interest payable in arrears;"goodwill payment" means the provision of money, a benefit or service by or on behalf of a bank to a complainant as an expression of goodwill aimed at resolving a complaint, where the bank does not accept liability for any financial loss to the complainant as a result of the matter complained about;"pension fund" means a pension fund as defined in the Pension Funds Act;"plain language" means communication that—(a)is clear and easy to understand;(b)avoids uncertainty or confusion; and(c)is adequate and appropriate in the circumstances,taking into account the factually established or reasonably assumed level of knowledge of the person or average persons at whom the communication is targeted;"potential financial customer" means a person who has applied to or otherwise approached the bank in relation to becoming a financial customer of the bank, or a person who has been solicited by the bank to become a financial customer, or has received advertising material in relation to the bank's financial products or financial services;"potential retail financial customer" means a person who has applied to or otherwise approached the bank in relation to becoming a retail financial customer of the bank, or a person who has been solicited by the bank to become a retail financial customer, or has received advertising material in relation to the bank's financial products or financial services;"rejected" in relation to a complaint means that a complaint has not been upheld and the bank regards the complaint as finalised after advising the complainant that it does not intend to take any further action to resolve the complaint and includes complaints regarded by the bank as unjustified or invalid, or where the complainant does not accept or respond to the bank's proposals to resolve the complaint;"reportable complaint" means any complaint other than a complaint that has been—(a)upheld immediately by the person who initially received the complaint;(b)upheld within the bank's ordinary processes for handling customer queries in relation to the type of financial product or financial service complained about, provided that such process does not take more than five business days from the date the complaint is received; or(c)submitted to or brought to the attention of the bank in such a manner that the bank does not have a reasonable opportunity to record such details of the complaint as may be prescribed in relation to reportable complaints;"retail complainant" means a person who has submitted a specific complaint to a bank and who—(a)is a retail financial customer or potential retail financial customer of the bank concerned and has a direct interest in the financial product or financial service to which the complaint relates; or(b)has submitted the complaint on behalf of a person mentioned in paragraph (a), provided that a potential retail financial customer will only be regarded as a complainant to the extent that the complaint relates to the potential retail financial customer's dissatisfaction in relation to the activities contemplated in the definition of "potential retail financial customer";"retail financial customer" means a financial customer that is—(a)a natural person; or(b)a juristic person, whose asset value or annual turnover is less than the threshold value as determined by the Minister of Trade and Industry in terms of section 8(1) of the Consumer Protection Act, 2008 (Act No. 68 of 2008);"service provider" means any person, whether or not that person is a representative or other agent of a bank, with whom a bank has an arrangement relating to the advertising or provision of the financial products or financial services of the bank; and"upheld" means that a complaint has been finalised wholly or partially in favour of the complainant and that—(a)the complainant has explicitly accepted that the matter is fully resolved; or(b)it is reasonable for the bank to assume that the complainant has so accepted;and all undertakings made by the bank to resolve the complaint have been met or the complainant has explicitly indicated satisfaction with any arrangements to ensure such undertakings will be met by the bank within a time acceptable to the complainant.2. Application and general obligations
3. Culture and governance
4. Design, suitability and performance requirements for financial products and financial services
5. Additional requirements in respect of retail financial customers
6. Advertising
7. Disclosures
8. Complaints
9. Refusal, withdrawal or closure of financial products or financial services by the bank
10. Termination, closure or switching of financial products or financial services by the financial customer
11. Short title and commencement
This Conduct Standard is called the Conduct Standard for Banks, 2020 and comes into operation as follows:History of this document
Cited documents 4
Legislation 4
1. | Consumer Protection Act, 2008 | 1068 citations |
2. | Mutual Banks Act, 1993 | 159 citations |
3. | Financial Sector Regulation Act, 2017 | 121 citations |
4. | Co-operative Banks Act, 2007 | 53 citations |