Cape Town - The Treasury said on Wednesday it would tighten oversight of domestic banks to protect individuals from high fees and predatory financial salesmen.
The Treasury also said it was moving to a "twin peaks" model of regulation, putting the central bank in charge of overseeing the financial system while its own Financial Services Board would scrutinise lenders.
"The South African financial services industry is characterised by high and opaque fees and the provision of inappropriate services driven only by commissions," the Treasury said in a policy document released alongside the 2011/12 budget.
"Now that the worst of the financial crisis is over, the focus on market conduct regulation and consumer protection will again be intensified," it said.
To this end, the Treasury said a Treating Customers Fairly initiative launched in 2010 would be implemented across the financial services sector with "clear, enforceable rules and regulations".
Banking in South Africa is dominated by four players: Standard Bank Group
[JSE:SBK], FirstRand
[JSE:FSR], Nedbank Group
[JSE:NED] and Absa Group
[JSE:ASA], a unit of Britian's Barclays.