The Devi Show Pure Hearts Funeral Catering
Pure Hearts Funeral Catering promises to provide a compassionate and professional service at affordable prices, ensuring families are supported during their most difficult times.
For just a few hundred Rands per month, you and your numerous nominated beneficiaries are also assured a smooth service, catering for large numbers of mourners with elegant décor bringing added class and dignity to heart-breaking goodbyes.
All well and good, except, on the ground, this doesn't always seem to be the experience many policy holders have benefitted from.
Instead of fresh meat and vegetables, clients recount horror stories of late arrivals without the promised basics of gas stoves, tents, tables and chairs. Add rotten vegetables, teams disappearing off site before the catering even begins and unpaid staff and you have a recipe for disappointment and anger.
But that's not all.
Turns out that the FSCA (Financial Sector Conduct Authority) has published an enforceable undertaking following years of continuous irregularities at the hands of management – meaning that the business hasn't been following the rules.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
IOL News
a day ago
- IOL News
FSCA provisionally withdraws licence of Nessfin Investments
The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has provisionally withdrawn the licence of Nessfin Investments Ltd. Image: File The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has provisionally withdrawn the licence of Nessfin Investments Ltd and Finance Group (Pty). The company is no longer authorised to conduct financial services. This comes following concerns about its involvement with an unauthorised financial services provider operating in the crypto asset sector. Nessfin was authorised to offer a limited range of financial services related to crypto assets. However, in August 2024, the FSCA discovered that Nessfin was in possession and control of funds collected by My Wealth Legatus (Pty) Ltd (Legatus), a company not authorised by the FSCA and under investigation for conducting unregistered financial services. The FSCA has previously warned the public about My Wealth Legatus, suspecting the company of offering unregistered financial services and operating as a bank without the necessary authorisation. "Based on the evidence collected by the FSCA thus far, it appears that Nessfin conducted financial services business beyond what it is permitted by its current authorisation," FSCA said. "Also, in terms of governing law (being the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act), an FSP is prohibited from conducting financial services related business with any person that is not correctly authorised by the FSCA. Based on the nature of its relationship with Legatus, the FSCA is of the view that Nessfin also contravened the FAIS Act in this way" The financial watchdog also confirmed that the investigations into Nessfin are ongoing. "The investigation into Nessfin is ongoing, but at this stage, the FSCA has material concerns about Nessfin's business. Thus, the FSCA decided to provisionally withdraw the FSP licence of Nessfin as it is satisfied on reasonable grounds that substantial prejudice to clients and/or the general public may occur if the licence is not provisionally withdrawn," IOL Business Get your news on the go, click here to join the IOL News WhatsApp channel
The Citizen
a day ago
- The Citizen
Industry leaders launch market surveillance code as Steinhoff fallout lingers
Aims to uphold integrity and prevent abuse, anti-competitive behaviour, and insider trading. FSCA investigators spend about 20% of their time assisting foreign regulators, including gathering trading records and financial data. Picture: Moneyweb The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has had to manage some of the most complex market abuse cases in the past eight years, including Steinhoff, regarded as the country's biggest corporate scandal to date. 'It's really been challenging,' says Alex Pascoe, head of market abuse at the FSCA. 'From December 2017, when Steinhoff announced accounting irregularities and its CEO Markus Jooste resigned, everything spiralled.' Pascoe was speaking at the launch of the South African Market Surveillance Code of Conduct in Cape Town on Tuesday, where he gave an account of the regulator's most prominent cases. The newly launched code of conduct is a joint initiative by South Africa's key financial institutions and regulators to align the country's market practices with global best standards. It aims to uphold market integrity and prevent abuse, anti-competitive behaviour, and insider trading. Although it does not replace existing regulations, it reinforces accountability from all market participants. ALSO READ: FSCA juggling high-profile cases with limited resources Case load Pascoe notes that the FSCA receives roughly 42 to 45 market abuse cases per year, but finalised 78 cases in its last financial year by implementing a World Bank-recommended case selection framework. Pascoe reflected on how the fallout from Steinhoff forced the FSCA to re-evaluate how it allocates investigative capacity. 'Everybody knew Jooste was Steinhoff, and Steinhoff was Jooste,' he says. 'From there on it spiralled – Viceroy and Tongaat [another accounting scandal], a mini-Steinhoff followed. It took a lot of resources to manage those cases, especially since they involved cross-border transactions.' (The Viceroy case refers to the FSCA's investigation into the US-based short-selling firm Viceroy Research, which was fined R50 million for publishing false and misleading statements about Capitec. The Tongaat accounting scandal involved the manipulation of financial statements by senior executives at sugar producer Tongaat Hulett to overstate the company's assets and profits.) ALSO READ: Secrecy surrounded Jooste's big FSCA fine and arrest warrant Jooste a 'brilliant' schemer The Steinhoff investigation is far from over. 'Last year we issued fines to Markus Jooste [of] R495 million. We are looking at his deceased estate and assets around the world,' said Pascoe. 'We won't just leave it at that. Ill-gotten gains – be [he] dead or alive – that's how serious we are. We are seeing this right through.' (Jooste, who faced multiple charges of fraud and racketeering and hefty fines from the JSE and the FSCA for financial misconduct, fatally shot himself in Hermanus in March 2024.) The South African Reserve Bank has already attached R1.4 billion in assets belonging to Jooste, but the global search continues. 'Most of his funds were hidden overseas,' says Pascoe. He adds that a second investigative report into Steinhoff is underway and has been shared with the commercial crimes court. 'Once preliminary findings are in, they [respondents] could make submissions.' Reflecting on lessons learned from Steinhoff, Pascoe says be on the lookout for a dominant CEO. The way Jooste set up the schemes was brilliant. ALSO READ: FSCA fines Markus Jooste R475 million, refers case to Hawks 'Only certain individuals knew what he wanted them to know. Nobody had the full picture.' He adds that Jooste's devices were wiped every two weeks, and hardly anything was documented. Steinhoff's complex global structure, multiple acquisitions, and lack of transparency made it difficult for stakeholders to understand the company's financial position. 'It was difficult to keep up and understand how everything fitted in,' says Pascoe. He also points to poor internal controls and captured auditors in Europe as contributing factors. 'The audits were not up to standard. And then, the culture of not questioning management.' FSCA investigators spend about 20% of their time assisting foreign regulators, including gathering trading records and financial data. 'We're getting requests from all over the world – Sweden, Belgium, even Pakistan,' said Pascoe. 'A lot of suspicious transactions are from overseas, and no longer from the JSE.' ALSO READ: Who will pay Markus Jooste's R510 million penalties now? Shadow trading The need for international collaboration was echoed by Tony Sio, head of regulatory strategy and innovation at Nasdaq's Anti-Financial Crime division, who also spoke at Tuesday's event. Sio shared developments in market abuse investigations, including a growing focus on shadow trading – a form of misconduct that remains largely unprosecuted but which are increasingly on the radar of regulators. 'Shadow trading is where insider traders don't trade in the companies themselves, but in economically-linked securities,' Sio explains. Although the practice started as a hypothetical scenario in an academic journal published in 2020, it is now being observed in market data. 'We found increases in volumes of linked securities before acquisitions.' He cites the 2021 case where the executive of a pharmaceutical company learned of an imminent takeover and used the information to buy options in a rival company likely to benefit from the news. 'His options doubled in value in one day. He thought he was smart by not buying in the company itself – but he was found liable.' ALSO READ: We can't afford another Jooste from Steinhoff Robust market surveillance attracts global investment Happy Shihau, head of compliance at Investec Corporate and Institutional Banking, who facilitated discussions at the launch event, stresses that the newly launched market surveillance conduct code complements – rather than replaces – regulatory rules and directives. Shihau says robust market surveillance is essential to attracting global investment. 'Investors worldwide seek to engage with trusted financial markets, and robust market surveillance is essential for upholding that trust.' She adds that the new code will help reinforce the regulatory environment and promote responsible behaviour across the industry. This article was republished from Moneyweb. Read the original here.
The Citizen
2 days ago
- The Citizen
Missing broker, missing money
Investors in Estcourt are knocking on all doors in their search for millions they invested with a local financial advisor. The advisor's lawyer says the matter is subject to police investigations and all investors are regarded as potential state witnesses. Picture: AdobeStock At least 40 people in the small town of Estcourt in KwaZulu-Natal are desperately looking for their financial advisor amid allegations that investments that were supposed to be placed with financial institutions have gone missing. Rumours circulate among the town's 32 000 residents that as much as R200 million could be involved. Investors have been knocking on every possible door to try to find the owner of Wood & Boon Insurance Brokers, Rookshana Khan, or her daughter, Rubina Khan. Their first stop was the financial advisor's office, however, they usually found it deserted. The stream of worried investors then started knocking on the door of a financial advisor working in the same building. The next stop was the local police station, but it had received so many complaints the would-be investors were allegedly turned away. One investor laid a complaint with the Office of the Ombud for Financial Services Providers (Fais Ombud), saying that she had invested R500 000 in August 2024 with the goal of receiving a monthly income. The ombud replied that there was 'insufficient information' to investigate the matter. ALSO READ: FSCA fines Middelburg insurance broker R1 million and debars her for 15 years No response Wood & Boon is registered as a Financial Services Provider (FSP) with the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) – and Khan is listed as the key individual, compliance officer and one of the registered representatives. Her daughter is also listed as a representative. The investor received only two payments of R5 500 each, then nothing. She has been unable to get hold of Khan since August 2024 and still wants to know where her money is. The Fais Ombud said in its response to the complaint that there is no evidence that Khan had invested the money in a regulated financial product and the matter is outside of its authority. 'There is nothing to suggest that the respondent provided you with a financial service in respect of a recognised financial product as defined in the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services (Fais) Act to empower this office with the required jurisdiction to access and dispose of this complaint,' it said. It noted that the documents apparently show that the investor agreed to invest with Khan directly. ALSO READ: FSCA says watch out for these scammers Subject to police investigation The ombud also says it could not assist as it was unable to reach the Wood & Boon office nor any of its representatives. 'The respondent has, to date, not responded to your complaint despite the six-week period in terms of our rules having passed. The respondent has, however, responded to a few other complaints through her lawyers, Van Rooyen Attorneys Inc. 'In their letter, the representative of the respondent mentions that they act on behalf of Wood and Boon Insurance Brokers CC and Mrs R Khan. Mrs Khan is currently admitted to the hospital, and they are unable to obtain detailed instructions. 'In their response to this office, they mention that the current matter is the subject of a police investigation and, as such, their client would prefer not to respond to the complaint while the investigations are ongoing. 'In circumstances such as these, where there is no further information available and the respondent is not cooperating in providing the information, this Office is unable to take the matter further,' the Fais Ombud says. ALSO READ: FSCA warning: These well-known people cannot help you to invest Don't ask … On 16 January 2025, Khan's lawyers addressed a letter to 'Wood & Boon Investors' in which the lawyer, Ig van Rooyen, tells investors not to contact his clients asking about their investments, hinting at legal repercussions should they do so. 'We act on instructions of Mrs. R Khan. It is our instructions that investment clients of Wood & Boon Insurance Brokers CC are attempting to contact our client and her daughter directly regarding the status of their investments. 'Please note that this matter is subject to Police investigations and all investors are regarded as potential State witnesses. Communications between our client and investors may therefore be regarded as interference with State witnesses, either directly or indirectly. Our client therefore kindly requests that all attempts at communications with her or her family be stopped immediately,' wrote Van Rooyen. He said his client is cooperating with the authorities and has not left South Africa as some investors have claimed. Van Rooyen confirmed that he is still acting for Khan, but that he could not supply a telephone number on which she could be reached. The fact that the police as well as financial authorities are turning people away – and a legal letter that seems threatening – has fuelled rumours that Khan is being 'protected', according to one disappointed investor. Read the letter from Van Rooyen Attorneys Inc, as supplied by the Fais Ombud. ALSO READ: FSCA warns consumers about investments with these unregistered entities Wood & Boon still registered with FSCA While the Fais Ombud promised to forward the complaint to the FSCA for investigation, the FSCA was unaware of the allegations against the broker when asked for comment this week. Gerhard van Deventer, divisional executive of the FSCA's enforcement department, says Wood & Boon is still registered with the FSCA as an authorised Category I FSP. This allows the brokerage to give advice and act as intermediary for long and short term insurance and investment products. It can also give advice and sell authorised retail pension fund products and regulated collective investment products, such as unit trusts. Van Deventer says that, according to FSCA records, the brokerage and its representatives are in good standing with the FSCA, but it will immediately investigate. 'The FSCA has not received any complaints against the FSP or its key individual, Mrs R. Khan,' he says. The FSCA says that its rules and regulations require that contact information on record for key individuals and compliance officers must be correct at all times. 'This forms part of the operational ability requirements that FSPs are obligated to comply with,' says Van Deventer. This article was republished from Moneyweb. Read the original here.
