Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act, 2002 (Act No. 37 of 2002)

Board Notices

Specific Code of Conduct for Authorised Financial Services Providers and Representatives conducting Short-term Deposit Business, 2004

Part ll : General Duties of Providers

7. Other information and explanations
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A provider must—

 

(a) ensure that contractual terms and conditions are fair in substance, and clearly distinguishable from marketing or promotional material, and set out the applicable rights and responsibilities of the client clearly;

 

(b) when furnishing advice to a client, make reasonable enquiries to assess the client’s financial needs and objectives, having regard to the circumstances of the client and the type of deposit on which advice is being given;

 

(c) in particular, at the earliest reasonable opportunity, provide, where applicable, full and appropriate information of the following:
(i) The key features of the deposit, including recommended safety measures, in order to assist the client to make an informed choice, also including any applicable cooling-off periods;
(ii) how a relevant account with the provider will operate, including information on withdrawal of funds, and any applicable special procedures and safeguards;
(iii) applicable fees and charges, including whether they will be negotiable or not, and of any applicable additional charges or interest in case of early withdrawals or cancellation;
(iv) the manner in which funds may be dealt with at maturity;
(v) regarding required client identification and verification documents when opening an account or when transacting on an account, and availability of unique identification methods which may include PINS and passwords;
(vi) when account details may be passed to, or required checks may be made with, credit risk management services and other legally relevant entities;
(vii) closing of branches to clients of that branch;
(viii) closing of deposit accounts of clients, which must only be effected after reasonable prior written notice at the last address of the client furnished to the provider and without prejudice to any legal rights of a client in respect thereof: Provided that it will be permissible to effect closing of accounts without prior notice to the client, if and when so required by law.