FSB Regulatory Exams deadline not to be extended again warns FIA
With the Financial Services Board’s (FSB) announcement that there will be no further extension to the 30th June 2012 deadline for all South African financial intermediaries to complete the FSB Regulatory Exams, those who have not yet registered must ensur
It must also be borne in mind that in order to partake in the exam rewrite in September 2012, financial advisors must have at least written the exam before the June deadline. Those who qualify to rewrite the exam after June must also note that the final date for registering is the 6th of September in order to write on the 28th of September 2012.
Even though the exams were approached with a large degree of fear and suspicion in the early stages there has been a dramatic turnabout and success stories have began to spread. Currently, about 60 per cent of representatives and 68 per cent of key individuals have successfully passed.
The FIA believes in professionalism as a solid foundation for the financial services industry and therefore supports the exams and does its best to ensure that its members are fully equipped to effectively complete these exams.
It is with a degree of concern, however, that the FIA takes note of intermediaries who have so far done little to prepare for and take these exams, despite the fact that the first deadline was the end of 2011.
When preparing for these exams, structured preparation is the answer. Here are some easy-to-follow steps to success:
1.Study the regulatory exam preparation guidelines provided by the FSB.
2.Guidelines from page 15 onwards contain all the qualifying criteria from which the exam questions are compiled.
3.Next to each qualifying criterion, there is a reference to the sections in the legislation that are relevant to that specific criterion.
4.In the exam questions and answers, the text of the legislation often appears as is and it then becomes easy to identify the correct answers.
5.Read through the legislation a few times and note words such as ‘must’ and ‘may’. Focus on time periods in which action must be taken on certain compliance obligations. Learn the definitions of advice, intermediary services, what is not regarded as advice or intermediary services, financial services and financial products.
6.Focus specifically on the following tasks in the qualifying criteria from which the most questions are formulated:
a.Representatives – tasks 1, 2, 3 and 7.
b.Key Individuals – tasks 1, 6, 8, 9, 10, 12 and 13.
7.Use other study material to refresh your memory and for practical examples of regulation.
8.Do some mock exams offered by providers and/or attend a workshop to round off the preparation.
