Conflict of Interests Policy

1. INTRODUCTION

BN 58 of 2010 – General Code of Conduct for Authorised Financial Services Providers and Representatives (as amended) – at paragraph 3(1)(b) requires that when a provider renders a financial service, the provider and any representative must avoid and where this is not possible mitigate, any conflict of interest between the provider and a client or the representative and a client. 

1. PURPOSE

This Policy seeks to regulate and control any prejudice to clients that could potentially arise as a consequence of conflicts of interest generally and in particular, as a consequence of non-cash incentives and benefits being offered by another provider, a product supplier or any other person to any person rendering financial services on behalf of Health & Accident Underwriting Managers (Pty) Ltd (“H&A”).

Conflicts of Interest will be managed so as to ensure that at all times financial services are rendered honestly, fairly, with due skill, care and diligence, and in the interests of clients and the integrity of the financial services industry.

1. DEFINITIONS

H&A trades as a Company incorporated with limited liability in terms of the Companies Act 61 of 1973 and accordingly, for the purposes of this Policy, the following words and expressions will have the following meanings:

“associate”

in relation to H&A, means any entity referred to in subparagraphs (i) to (vii) below who is also a product supplier, another provider, an associate of a product supplier or a provider, a distribution channel or any person who in terms of an agreement or arrangement with any product supplier, another provider, an associate of a product supplier or a provider, a distribution channel above provides a financial interest to H&A or its representatives such an associate being:

• any subsidiary company of H&A;

• any holding company of H&A;

• any other subsidiary of any holding company of H&A;

• any other company of which that holding company Is a subsidiary;

• any person in accordance with whose directions or instructions the board of directors of H&A is accustomed to act;

• any juristic person of which the board of directors or, in the case where such juristic person is not a company, of which the governing body is accustomed to act in accordance with the directions or instructions of H&A;

• any trust controlled or administered by H&A.

“Conflict of Interest”

means any situation in which H&A or any Representative has an actual or potential interest that may, in rendering a financial service to a Client,

a) influence the objective performance of his, her or its obligations to that client; or

b) prevent H&A or any representative from rendering an unbiased and fair financial service to that client, or from acting in the interests of that client, including, but not limited to 

• a financial interest;

• an ownership interest;

• any relationship with a third party;

“distribution channel”

means

a) any arrangement between a product supplier or any of its associates and one or more providers or any of its associates in terms of which arrangement any support or service is provided to H&A or providers in rendering a financial service to a client;

b) any arrangement between two or more providers or any of their associates, which arrangement facilitates, supports or enhances a relationship between H&A or providers and a product supplier;

c) any arrangement between two or more product suppliers or any of their associates, which arrangement facilitates, supports or enhances a relationship between a provider or providers and a product supplier;

”financial interest”

means any cash, cash equivalent, voucher, gift, service, advantage, benefit, discount, domestic or foreign travel, hospitality, accommodation, sponsorship, other incentive or valuable consideration, other than

a) an ownership interest;

b) training, that is not exclusively available to a selected group of providers or representatives, on

    (i) products and legal matters relating to those products;

    (ii) general financial and industry information;

    (iii) specialised technological systems of a third party necessary for the rendering of a financial service; but excluding travel and accommodation associated with                  that training;

“Immaterial financial

means any financial Interest with a determinable monetary value, the aggregate

Interest”

of which does not exceed R 1 000 in any calendar year from the same third party in that calendar year received by

a) a provider who is a sole proprietor; or

b) a representative for that representative’s direct benefit;

c) a provider, who for its benefit or that of some or all of its representatives, aggregates the immaterial financial interest paid to its representatives;

“ownership interest” means 

a) any equity or proprietary interest, for which fair value was paid by the owner at the time of acquisition, other than equity or a proprietary interest held as an approved nominee on behalf of another person; and

b) includes any dividend, profit share or similar benefit derived from that equity or ownership interest. 

“third party”   means

a) a product supplier;

b) another provider;

c) an associate of a product supplier or a provider;

d) a distribution channel;

e) any person who in terms of an agreement or arrangement with a person referred to in paragraphs (a) to (d) above provides a financial interest to a provider or its representatives.

1. PERMITTED FINANCIAL INTERESTS

The following financial interests are permitted and are not regarded as constituting any actual or potential conflict of interest: 

4.1.   commission authorised under the Long-term Insurance Act, 1998 (Act No. 52 of 1998);

4.2. fees authorised under the Long-term Insurance Act, 1998 (Act No. 52 of 1998) if those fees are reasonably commensurate to a service being rendered;

4.3. fees for the rendering of a financial service in respect of which commissions or fees authorised under the Long-term Insurance Act, 1998 (Act No. 52 of 1998) are not paid, provided that such fees are specifically agreed to by the client in writing and may be stopped at the discretion of that client;

4.4.   commission authorised under the Short-term Insurance Act, 1998 (Act No. 53 of 1998); 

4.5. fees authorised under the Short-term Insurance Act, 1998 (Act No. 53 of 1998) if those fees are reasonably commensurate to a service being rendered;

4.6. fees for the rendering of a financial service in respect of which commissions or fees authorised under the Short-term Insurance Act, 1998 (Act No. 53 of 1998) ) are not paid, provided that such fees are specifically agreed to by the client in writing and may be stopped at the discretion of that client;

4.7. fees or remuneration for the rendering of a service to a third party, which fees or remuneration are reasonably commensurate to the service being rendered;

4.8. any financial interest in the form of cash, cash equivalent, voucher, gift, service, advantage, benefit, discount, domestic or foreign travel, hospitality, accommodation, sponsorship, other incentive or valuable consideration not referred to above, for which a consideration, fair value or remuneration that is reasonably commensurate to the value of the financial interest, is paid by that provider or representative at the time of receipt thereof;

4.9. training, that is not exclusively available to a selected group of providers or representatives, on products and legal matters relating to those products excluding travel and accommodation associated with that training;

4.10.  training, that is not exclusively available to a selected group of providers or representatives, general financial and industry information excluding travel and accommodation associated with that training; 4.11.  training, that is not exclusively available to a selected group of providers or representatives, specialised technological systems of a third party necessary for the rendering of a financial service

excluding travel and accommodation associated with that training; 4.12. any immaterial financial interest;

1. PROHIBITED FINANCIAL INTERESTS

Any financial interest described below that does not fall within the provisions of Paragraph 4 above (Permitted Financial Interests) is prohibited and may not be received by granted by H&A under any circumstances:

5.1.   Any Cash Payment received from/granted to any third party;

5.2.   Any Cash Equivalent received from/granted to any third party;

5.3.   Any Voucher received from/granted to any third party;

5.4.   Any Gift received from/granted to any third party;

5.5.     Any Service received from/offered to any third party;

5.6.     Any Advantage received from/granted to any third party;

5.7.     Any Benefit received from/granted to any third party;

5.8.     Any Discount received from/granted to any third party;

5.9.     Any Domestic or Foreign Travel received from/granted to any third party;

5.10.   Any Hospitality received from/granted to any third party;

5.11.   Any Accommodation received from/granted to any third party;

5.12.   Any Sponsorship received from/granted to any third party;

5.13.   Any other incentive or valuable consideration received from/granted to any third party;

The sole exceptions to the prohibition on the receipt of/granting of the financial interests referred to above are when the aggregate of the determinable monetary value received/granted in any calendar year from the same third party does not exceed R 1 000 in that calendar year if received by/granted by H&A, or does not exceed the sum of R1 000 multiplied by the total number of representatives if received by all/granted to all or any representatives in any calendar year from/to the same third party. All such exceptions will be recorded in the Company’s “Conflict of Interest & Gifts Register”.

1. DECLARATION OF H&A’S OWNERSHIP INTEREST

6.1. Neither H&A nor any Representative has any actual or potential equity or proprietary interest of any kind in any Third Party that may, in rendering a financial service to a Client, influence the objective performance of his, her or its obligations to that client or that may prevent H&A or any representative from rendering an unbiased and fair financial service to that client, or from acting in the interests of that client;

6.2. Neither H&A nor any Representative receives any actual or potential dividend, profit share or similar benefit derived from any equity or ownership interest of any Third Party that may, in rendering a financial service to a Client, influence the objective performance of his, her or its obligations to that client or that may prevent H&A or any representative from rendering an unbiased and fair financial service to that client, or from acting in the interests of that client.

1. DECLARATION OF OWNERSHIP INTEREST IN H&A

7.1. No Third Party has any actual or potential equity or proprietary interest of any kind in the business of H&A that may, in rendering a financial service to a Client, influence the objective performance of his, her or its obligations to that client or that may prevent H&A or any representative from rendering an unbiased and fair financial service to that client, or from acting in the interests of that client;

7.2. No Third Party receives any actual or potential dividend, profit share or similar benefit to H&A that is derived from any equity or ownership interest that may, in rendering a financial service to a Client, influence the objective performance of his, her or its obligations to that client or that may prevent H&A or any representative from rendering an unbiased and fair financial service to that client, or from acting in the interests of that client.

1. LIST OF ASSOCIATES 

H&A does not have any associate (as defined) who is a Third Party (as defined) and in respect of whom there is or may be any conflict of interest or any potential conflict of interest.

1. MANAGEMENT OF CONFLICT OF INTEREST

9.1. Any queries by employees of H&A in regard to conflicts of interest potential, actual or apparent must be referred to Darlene Hofman, who is the person responsible for the identification and management of conflicts of interest. Any decision by the aforesaid Darlene Hofman shall be final and binding; This Conflict of Interest Policy shall be formally reviewed each year at the first General Meeting for the year;

9.2.     This Conflict of Interest Policy shall be viewed holistically and shall not concentrate on remuneration issues only. The Policy shall have as its sole purpose the intention of ensuring that at all times financial services are rendered honestly, fairly, with due skill, care and diligence, and in the interests of clients and the integrity of the financial services industry;

9.3.     All Key Individuals of the business shall regularly review the terms and conditions of the relationship between the business and all product suppliers and other financial services providers in order to identify potential, apparent or actual conflicts of interest and shall also regularly review the procedures adopted to prevent such conflicts in compliance with this Policy;

9.4.     Key Individuals shall be responsible for ensuring that all employees of the business are adequately exposed to the concept of Conflicts of Interest and shall provide appropriate training to employees and shall be responsible for ensuring the adherence of employees to the Policy; 

9.5.     Key Individuals complete and sign annual Key Individual questionnaires relating to their involvement with third parties (Annexure A).

1. IDENTIFICATION OF CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

10.1. A conflict of interest involves the abuse – actual, apparent, or potential – of the trust that people have in professionals. A conflict of interest is a situation in which financial or other personal considerations have the potential to compromise or bias professional judgment and objectivity;

10.2. An apparent conflict of interest is one in which a reasonable person would think that the professional’s judgment is likely to be compromised. A potential conflict of interest involves a situation that may develop into an actual conflict of interest;

10.3. It is important to note that a conflict of interest exists whether or not decisions are affected by a personal interest; a conflict of interest implies only the potential for bias, not likelihood;

10.4.  It is the formal policy of H&A to avoid as far as possible all actual and potential Conflicts of Interest.

1. MEASURES FOR THE DISCLOSURE OF CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

11.1. Where H&A has considered the circumstances surrounding a possible Conflict of Interests and has determined for reasons that may have arisen at that time, that it is impossible to avoid such Conflict of Interest, H&A shall at that time take such measures as may be reasonable to mitigate the prejudice to client;

11.2. In circumstances referred to in paragraph 12.1 above H&A or Representative as the case may be shall be required to notify the client in of the possibility of the conflict and shall disclose full details of the nature of the possible prejudice to the client;

11.3. The written notification to the client shall also contain details and reasons why the Conflict of Interest cannot be avoided in the circumstances and the client shall be asked to confirm in writing that H&A may proceed or continue to act in the particular matter, as the case may be.

1. PROCESSES, PROCEDURES AND INTERNAL CONTROLS TO FACILITATE COMPLIANCE WITH THE POLICY

12.1. H&A shall ensure that its employees, representatives and, where appropriate, associates are aware of the contents of this Conflict of Interest Management Policy and shall provide for appropriate training and educational material in this regard;

12.2. H&A shall continuously monitor compliance with this Conflict of Interest Management Policy and shall at the first General Meeting of each year conduct a review of the Policy.

1. CONSEQUENCES OF NON-COMPLIANCE WITH THE POLICY BY H&A’S EMPLOYEES AND REPRESENTATIVES

1. 1. If H&A’s Board of Directors has reasonable cause to believe that any employee, including any Key Individual, representative and/or any juristic representative has failed to disclose actual or possible conflicts of interest, it shall inform such individual/s of the basis for such belief and afford such individual/s an opportunity to explain the alleged failure to disclose;

13.2.  If, after hearing the response of the individual/s in question and making such further investigation as may be warranted, the board or committee determines that the individual/s has/have in fact failed to disclose an actual or possible conflict of interest, it shall take appropriate disciplinary and corrective action.

1. CONTACT DETAILS

14.1. Any queries in regard to this Conflicts of Interest Policy, including any report of any breach thereof, may be addressed to:

Name:Mrs Darlene HofmanTel No:011 234 7333Email:dhofman@healthacc.co.za

14.2. All such queries and reports will be kept in the strictest confidence and in circumstances where and employee of H&A has reported any breach of this Policy, H&A will use its best endeavours to protect the identity of such employee.