Financial Services Tribunal

The implementation of the Financial Sector Regulation Act 9 of 2017 (“FSRA”) set the ball rolling for the Financial Services Tribunal (Tribunal), which has been established to reconsider decisions of, or omissions to take such decisions, by a financial sector regulator, authorised financial services provider, statutory ombud or market infrastructure as outlined in section 218 of the FSRA.

The Tribunal is an adjudication forum similar to the old FSB Appeal Board except that, as set out above,its mandate is wider than the old FSB Appeal Board.

The Tribunal is an independent body with its members being appointed by the Minister of Finance. The Tribunal may consist of as many members as the Minister may determine, but atleast two members must be retired judges and two other persons must be experienced or knowledgeable in respect of financial products, services and instruments as well as market infrastructures or the financial system.

Retired Justices Yvonne Mokgoro and Louis Harms have respectively been appointed by the Minister as the Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson of the Tribunal together with 16 additional Tribunal members. According to Adv Nonku Tshombe, General Counsel of the FSCA, on 21 May 2018 the Chairperson of the Tribunal issued rules in accordance with section 227 of the FSRA and the Ministerial regulations published on 29 March 2018 and these have been published on the FSCA website.