FINANCIAL SECTOR: TWO KEY BILLS HEAD TO PARLIAMENT

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FINANCIAL SECTOR: TWO KEY BILLS HEAD TO PARLIAMENT

• 17 April 2026
• Financial Sector
• SA Legal Academy

In anticipation of their formal introduction in Parliament, National Treasury has gazetted procedurally required pre-tabling explanatory summaries of:

• the Conduct of Financial Institutions Bill, and
• the General Laws (Anti-Money Laundering & Combating Terrorism Financing) Amendment Bill.

SA Legal Academy will provide a link to each Bill once it becomes available.

A media statement on Cabinet meetings at which the two Bills were considered and approved for tabling provides insights into their provisions not featured in the explanatory summaries.

Regarding the Conduct of Financial Institutions Bill, the statement notes that it seeks to:

• create ‘a single, holistic framework for regulating the market conduct of all financial institutions’ as part of a broader ‘twin peaks’ model reform process
• ‘ensure fair customer treatment, enhance transformation and promote stability’
• support financial sector transformation by making it mandatory for each financial institution to develop and implement a broad-based black economic empowerment financial sector code policy, and
• support market development and competition by ‘enabling a differentiated approach to licensing’ with the aim of fostering ‘the entry of new players’ (financial technology having been identified as one example).

In addition, the Bill’s explanatory summary refers to provisions:

• regulating the appointment and debarment of financial institution representatives
• prescribing:
  • the principles in terms of which financial institutions should conduct their business
  • governing body obligations
  • the fitness and propriety requirements to be met by key role players ad personnel
  • the principles underpinning trust property and fund-related business
  • specific requirements to be met when supplying financial products and services to retail and small enterprise financial customers
  • financial soundness and operational ability requirements
  • reporting, accounting and audit-related obligations
  • insurance business conduct requirements, and
  • principles for advertising and information disclosure, and
• providing for:
  • a consolidated licensing framework
  • processes and procedures related to the recovery and exit of financial institutions from the sector
  • the recognition of equivalent foreign jurisdictions, and
  • the obligations of:
    • credit rating agencies
    • the managers of collective investment schemes and friendly societies, and
    • statutory ombuds.

As SA Legal Academy has already reported, a draft Bill released in December 2018 for public comment was revised and published in September 2020 for a second round of stakeholder consultations.

Regarding the General Laws [Anti-Money Laundering & Combating Terrorism Financing (AMLCTF)] Amendment Bill, the statement notes that – building on earlier amendments – it seeks to strengthen South Africa’s anti-money laundering and combating terrorism financing system ahead of the country’s FATF mutual evaluation, scheduled for mid-2026 to October 2027.

To that end, the Bill’s explanatory summary refers to proposals affecting:

• the 1997 Nonprofit Organisation Act (among other things providing for AMLCTF-related monitoring and enforcement)
• the 2001 Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) Act (empowering the FIC to conduct lifestyle audits; and strengthening a raft of administrative measures and procedures)
• the 2008 Companies Act (providing for the deregistration of a non-compliant company; and strengthening various administrative procedures), and
• the 2017 Financial Sector Regulation Act (among other things enabling regulators to institute investigations in specific circumstances; binging new services within the ambit of existing measures; and strengthening compliance enforcement).

The Bill was released in draft form in January 2026 for public comment.

• Conduct of Financial Institutions Bill explanatory summary
• SA Legal Academy report
• General Laws (Anti-Money Laundering & Combating Terrorism Financing) Amendment Bill explanatory summary
• Cabinet media statement

Published by SA Legal Academy Policy Watch

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