ConVista Consulting enables FAIS Fit and Proper compliance by end 2009

Amendments to the FAIS Act, requiring increased Fit and Proper compliance complexity for financial services representatives, has been issued by the South African Financial Services Board (FSB).

These changes have been mandated to be in effect by the end of 2009. ConVista Consulting, an innovative local SAP implementation partner, has a solution that can help get this administrative nightmare under control - ready to operate by the end of the year.

The amendments to Fit and Proper compliance centre around tracking and reporting on financial services representatives' credentials and experience. Additional regulatory exams need to be taken, within certain timeframes.

Continuous professional development needs to be tracked by hours completed over three years. And some experience needs to be supervised, while other experience does not. And all of this needs to be reported to the FSB alongside the annual reports, auditory reports, licensing and standard record keeping, in the mandated formats. This is a massive ongoing undertaking for the compliance officer that increases exponentially with the size of an organisation.

While the management components of some HR software solutions (eg, SAP HR) can cope with aspects of the revised Act, they are not built for purpose. ConVista Consulting's implementation of the SAP Credentialing solution, with remote integration to a client's HR solution, is flexible and enhanced specifically to cope with the local FAIS regulations. It caters for all employees from call-centre agents through to financial managers, and also non-employees such as independent broker firms and their sales staff.

The implementation of the ConVista Consulting solution will allow for immediate compliance with requirements of the amended FAIS Act, as well as being designed to be adaptable to all future changes to these regulations. It can also be fully implemented well within the six-month timeframe.

“ConVista Consulting has extensive experience in the design, business re-engineering and implementation of South African financial services industry processes,” says Dylan Evans, Managing Director of ConVista Consulting. “As part of a global organisation, we back up our specific knowledge of the regulatory and compliance challenges of the South African environment with a broader view of international industry practices and solutions. And we constantly look for innovative development opportunities that allow our clients to work with fixed costs and well-defined time frames.”