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Johannesburg – SA's financial services industry will not flourish if regulation does not ensure level playing fields and remove unnecessary barriers to doing business‚ said chairperson of the Association for Savings and Investment SA (Asisa) and CEO of Sanlam [JSE:SLM] Johan van Zyl on Wednesday.
An open critic of over-regulation‚ Van Zyl told the Asisa conference in Durban that the global financial crisis was not over and continued to pose challenges. He did not believe confidence would be restored through regulation alone‚ especially as SA did not suffer from the same problems being experienced in Europe.
"I do not believe all the regulatory changes are appropriate for us‚" he said‚ adding that regulation needed to provide a sustainable environment‚ while partnerships with all stakeholders were critical.
"The best protection for the consumer is a sustainable financial services sector. The solution to building confidence is working together as a collective for the same goals‚" he said.
Numerous speakers from Treasury and the Reserve Bank‚ which are driving regulation in SA‚ will be engaging with industry during the two days of the conference.
"It is common knowledge that people have lost confidence in the financial services sector. SA is now playing in the premier league as part of the G20 and Brics. But the industry can get better. All parts of the sector need to work together‚" said Asisa CEO Leon Campher.
Asisa opened its doors in 2008 and represents 109 member companies managing
R4.64-trillion of the R5.34-trillion
regulated savings pool in SA.
