Dear Colleagues
You really can’t laugh this off
Please take note that you have until the end of this month to qualify for you CPD points in terms of the first 3-year rolling cycle.
Please see the notice below in this regard.
URGENT NOTICE TO ALL CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (CPD) PARTICIPANTS – 22 DECEMBER 2017
We have every reason to believe that the EAAB will follow through on this and that you will not be able to obtain a Fidelity Fund Certificate going forward should you not comply, on top of which there are penalties.
This is not about the perceived value of CPD or any other considerations. The reason is to ensure that you remain in a position to trade as an estate agent.
Should you experience any difficulties in accessing the e-Learning platform on your MyCPD agent portal, we reiterate that you lodge a query on the online query system and send the reference number to us together with screenshots of any error messages, which will enable us to assist you after the deadline has passed.
Yes, they can
It has come to our attention that the EAAB has launched the self-assessment initiative yet again.
We are in correspondence with the EAAB in an attempt to put an end to this for now as the IT system is still not fully operative and we believe this will put unnecessary strain on the system. Some agents are still waiting for their Fidelity Fund Certificates and that should be the EAABs priority.
Be that as it may, the EAAB in terms of the Act, has the power to request all this information from you and should you not be in compliance they can unfortunately take the normal steps.
We understand that this is cumbersome but urge you to please rather comply.
Should you have problems with the system, we again urge you to lodge a query online, take screenshots and forward same to us, together with the query reference number so that we can be of further assistance. Proof of your endeavour to comply is crucial.
EAAB Self Assessment :- FIC and Risk Management and Compliance Programme (“RMCP”)
In the latest self-assessment emailed to all of you and which we have received many queries on, we refer you to Question 9 point Q
- Are there any documents that should be uploaded to support the answers on the self- assessment questionnaire?
Yes. The following documents will need to be available for uploading on the MyEAAB Agents Portal:-
- Copy of the Risk Management Compliance programme and proof of communication to staff.
We reiterate our statement in our report of 25 October 2017. Rebosa went to great lengths and expense to draft a generic RMCP for our members. At the same time, the EAAB as our regulator needed to take the lead on the implementation date of this new rules.
The matter was raised at the last Multi-Stakeholder meeting and as per the minutes of that meeting, “The EAAB indicated that, during a recent meeting with FIC representatives, an extension of time until 31 October 2018 had been requested to enable the estate agency sector to comply with the requirements of the Amendment Act. MSG members felt that this extension might prove to be insufficient and requested the EAAB to seek a further extension of time, if at all possible, from the FIC. Mr Le Roux advised that Rebosa, and the sector as a whole, was presently waiting for the EAAB to produce the required templates as a prelude to the implementation of the Financial Intelligence Centre Amendment Act. Rebosa again requested the EAAB to prevail upon the FIC to grant a sufficient extension of time to enable the sector to become fully compliant without the threat of penalties. It was noted, in this respect, that a special CPD slot on the implementation of the Financial Intelligence Centre Amendment Act would be incorporated into the 2018 CPD Programme.”
It is therefore safe to say you cannot answer question 9 (Q) as it is a work in progress.
We will notify you of all developments in this regard.
Kind regards
Jan
