JSE Equity Compliance Officer

INTRODUCTION

All Equities member firms are required by the JSE rules to appoint a compliance officer to ensure compliance by the member with the provisions of the Financial Markets Act, the Rules and Directives of the JSE and Board decisions. It is stipulated in the rules that such compliance officers must obtain a pass in the Equity Compliance Officer examination as prescribed by the JSE.

Amongst other things, the compliance officers are fully responsible to the JSE for the actions of the member including its officers and employees and are also subject to disciplinary powers and procedures of the JSE. In addition, they are required to report any apparent contraventions of the Act, the Rules and Directives of the JSE or Board decision member to the JSE Director: Market Regulation.

Syllabus outline

The Question and Answer Guide (February 2018 edition) is the syllabus of the JSE Equity Compliance Officers Examination prescribed by the JSE in terms of equities rule 4.30.1. The syllabus is comprised of questions and answers arranged in the themes set out in the table below. Each theme may consist of definitions, rules, directives or Sections of the Act related to the theme.

Theme	Section	Questions
General	Section 2	1 to 7
Authorisations and Approvals	Section 3	8 to 41
Management and Control	Section 4	42 to 64
Prudential Requirements	Section 5	65 to 96
Trading	Section 6	97 to 170
Market Conduct	Section 7	171 to 176
Conduct of Business	Section 8	177 to 290
Client Assets	Section 9	291 to 324
Settlement	Section 10	325 to 357
Complaints and Disputes	Section 11	358 to 385
Supervision and Enforcement	Section 12	386 to 391
Default	Section 13	392 to 396
Krugerrands	Section 15	397 to 407

You can download the study material from www.virtualexamcentre.co.za under the study material tab once you have paid for the exam.

Exam format

The exam consists of 65 questions randomly selected from the syllabus. It is not an electronic multiple-choice examination and there is no negative marking. Mark allocations vary, ranging from half a mark to twelve marks per question. The duration of the examination is two hours. 65% is required to be declared competent.

A number of questions and answers with zero-mark allocation have been included in the Question and Answer Guide for completeness and to give candidates a broad view of the contents of the JSE Equities rules and directives and the Act. However, it is important to note that learners will not be tested on these questions.

Enrolment and Payment

Enrolment

Enrolment takes places online through our Virtual Exam Centre. Select the top icon that says Enrol and log in with your ID or passport number. Complete the details requested or if in the database already, confirm that they are still correct. Your identity number or passport number will serve to identify you to our system.

The facility to purchase an exam is only available to members of SAIFM. More information regarding membership can be found on www.saifm.co.za.

You may elect to become an affiliate member by agreeing to adhere to the SAIFM Code of Conduct by checking the appropriate box when registering or updating your information, thereby allowing you to purchase an exam.

Should you wish to purchase by credit card, you may continue. Should you wish to use an alternative form of payment, you can close the internet and follow the procedure outlined below.

Purchase the exam by credit card

You can purchase the exam(s) 〈module(s)〉 you wish to write by adding them to your shopping basket. Then you proceed to checkout to pay by credit card through the secure online credit card gateway. Just follow the instructions on screen. Access to the learning material will be automatic after the payment has been made.

Purchase the exam by electronic transfer

NOTE that our prices increase on 1 August each year. If you make payment before 1 August but do not send and confirm receipt of proof therof before 1 August, when prices increase, you will be liable to pay the new price.

If you wish to pay be cash deposit or electronic transfer (EFT), the following procedure applies:

Proof of the payment (stamped bank deposit slip or EFT confirmation) must be emailed to Hayley Pfeifer or Susan Jansen van Rensburg.
Your name, ID number and title(s) of the exam(s) you wish to purchase must be clearly noted in the email.
Immediately after sending the email, you need to phone our office (011 802 4768) to confirm that the email has been received.
Please allow approximately 2 business days for SAIFM staff to load your exam. It is NOT automatic as is the case with credit card transactions.

It is very important to note that if the above procedure is not followed correctly, your exams may not be loaded for you. Please DO NOT instruct the bank to automatically send the payment if paying via EFT – rather have the remittance sent to yourself and then forward to SAIFM with the requested details.

Company payments

Should you need a quotation before you can remit payment, you can email Hayley Pfeifer or Susan Jansen van Rensburg to request one. The following information must be supplied when requesting a quotation:

Name of company
Address of company
VAT number of company
Name/s of candidate/s and ID or Passport numbers (Note all candidates must have their information registered on the Virtual Exam Centre before a quotation will be issued)
Exams/s required for the candidate(s)

Once payment has been made, the procedure as outlined above should be followed.

Upon receipt of proof of payment, SAIFM will issue a tax invoice.

Cash payments

We regrettably cannot accept cash payments at our premises, so if you wish to pay by cash you will need to follow the same procedure for cash deposits as EFT payments.

Banking details

The SA Institute of Financial Markets
Bidvest Bank

Account No: 1557 0709 401
Branch Code: 462005

Account Type: Business Account

Confirmations

You may confirm which exams you are registered for by entering your identity number or passport number into the Enrol screen. It is advisable that you confirm your exam in all cases where you did not make use of a credit card payment.

Learning material

The learning material is designed to be a self-study workbook. It contains all the information necessary to pass the examination.

Candidates must ensure that the correct learning material is being studied. SAIFM cannot be held responsible if the incorrect learning material is used. The latest edition is stated in the syllabus details on the relevant exam webpage.

Accessing the learning material

The learning material can be downloaded from the Virtual Exam Centre once the exam has been paid for. If purchase takes place by credit card through the secure e-commerce facility, the learning material will be available immediately. In the case of payment by electronic transfer, the exam will be loaded by SAIFM staff within 2 business days of confirmation of receiving the faxed or e-mailed proof of payment.

Once the exam has been purchased, the learning material will be available for download until the exam has either been taken or the six-month time period (see time limits within which exams must be taken) has elapsed.

SAIFM is able to download and print the learning material on behalf of candidates who do not have access to a printer. Such hard copies may be purchased once the exam has been paid for.

Updates

Learning material is amended from time to time.

If the learning material is replaced with an updated version that affects the exams or new learning material, notice will be given to registered candidates of the changeover to the new exam. This fact will also be advertised on both www.saifm.co.za and www.virtualexamcentre.co.za. Candidates may therefore, before the changeover date, write an exam based on the old material while the new material will be examined from the changeover date. The new book will be e-mailed to learners on request from the date of notice until the changeover date.

Strict email filters and incorrectly supplied addresses could hinder delivery of notifications and SAIFM cannot guarantee that email notifications are always delivered. Candidates are thus advised to check the SAIFM website for notices that may affect learning material before booking to write an exam.

Should a candidate study from the incorrect learning material and notices regarding updates have been published, there can be no recourse taken against SAIFM.

Exam dates and booking for exams

Exams take place every business day (excluding public holidays and during the closure of the venue in December) and within the six-month time period (see time limits below). You will be required to make an appointment at least 7 (seven) business days in advance of the day on which you wish to write. SAIFM will try as far as possible to provide you with a venue where you live, making use of its extensive network of exam centres. If not possible, SAIFM will arrange an exam at the nearest possible venue. 48 Hours’ notice of cancellation is needed, if this is not met, the learner will be charged a cancellation fee, which must be settled before another exam booking will be made. Bookings will only be accepted if the payment has been received. Bookings can only be made through SAIFM’s offices by contacting Hayley Pfeifer or Susan Jansen van Rensburg. Alternatively, a learner may request the remote online invigilation.

Note: Failure to arrive or not cancel at least 2 business days before the exam will result in a R125.00 fee being payable before a new appointment will be made.

Results and certificates

Your result will be emailed to you approximately 15 working days after the examination. This will be proof of the result of the exam with your score indicated on the printout. Should you attain the competency mark, a certificate will be posted to you, by normal mail, within 6-8 weeks of passing the exam. Re-issue of certificates will be reprinted at a cost.

Non-disclosure of results

Results will not be given to third parties unless the learner has given written authority for the third party to obtain such information. Without this authority, results will only be disclosed to exam candidates / learners themselves.

Costs

The cost of the JSE Equity Compliance Officer exam is R2170-00 (Inc. VAT). This allows for:

One opportunity to take the exam within the six-month time limit (see time limit below within which exams must be taken).
Access to download the learning material until the exam has either been taken or lapsed (see time limit below within which exams must be taken).
Access to purchase a hard copy of the learning material until the exam has either been taken or lapsed (see time limit below within which exams must be taken).

Should the exam need to be retaken, the cost is R2170-00 (Inc. VAT) effective 1 August 2024.

Note that our prices increase on 1 August each year. If payment is made before 1 August but proof thereof not sent and confirmed received by SAIFM by 1 August, when prices increase, the new price will be applicable.

Special exam procedure concessions

If you require any special assessment procedure concessions due to disability, or for any other reasons, please contact Christie-anne van Wyngaardt at christie@saifm.co.za to make special arrangements to accommodate you.

Cancellations

The following non-negotiable conditions apply to refunds. It is automatically assumed that these conditions have been read and understood when we receive a refund request.

Refunds can ONLY be made into a South African or Namibian bank account.
All refunds are subject to a 20% administration fee.
Refund requests must be submitted on or before the exact expiry date of the exam (see time limits below within which exams must be taken)
Refunds can only be paid to the person/company that originally made the payment.
The following information is required for the refund to be processed. (Note: if all of the information is not received or is incorrect, the refund will not be processed)
- Name of Learner
- Title of exam(s) you wish to be refunded for
- Bank confirmation letter

To request a refund, please email the above details to Christie-anne van Wyngaardt

Time limits

Learners must write within 6 months of purchasing an exam. After the 6-month period, a student’s right to write the exam lapses and no refunds will be made. Should a student wish to write the exam after the 6-month period, he/she will have to repurchase the exam.