Industry Updates

PCC 59 outlines FICA’s beneficial ownership requirements to combat financial crime and ensure transparency. Institutions must identify and verify individuals who ultimately own or control clients. Failure to verify may prevent relationships and trigger reporting obligations.

David Gluckman, former Chair of the Sanlam Umbrella Fund, calls for bold reforms to simplify retirement systems, reduce costs, and protect members. His five-point plan urges industry collaboration to tackle bureaucracy, boost competition, manage small balances, and use reserves for member benefit.

Recent market gains outpace annuity cost increases, creating an ideal window to secure guaranteed income for life. A guaranteed annuity or a blend with a living annuity offers stability, sustainability and peace of mind.

As a valued client of Sanlam, we want to explain Customer Due Diligence (CDD), a process mandated by FICA, which involves identifying and verifying client identities to prevent financial crime and foster a secure financial environment.

At the 2025 Sanlam Corporate Leaders’ Breakfast, experts discussed the Age of Confidence research revealing South Africans can only afford to retire at 80. The panel explored the retirement gap, future of work, and ways to improve financial outcomes.

A recent determination by the Pension Funds Adjudicator underscores the necessity for retirement funds to act within the constraints of Section 37D of the Pension Funds Act when withholding benefits at an employer’s request. In the case of A Buys v Sentraal Suid Aftree Fonds, the Adjudicator ruled that a fund improperly withheld a member’s withdrawal benefit based solely on an employer’s allegations and a criminal investigation, without a civil judgment or admission of liability. This ruling reaffirms that funds must exercise discretion carefully, act impartially, and ensure that withholding benefits is legally justified to avoid undue prejudice to members.