Abstract:
The enactment of the Financial Sector Regulation Act 9 of 2017 ('the FSR Act') on 21 August 2017 marks the first stage of South Africa's
transition from a sectoral to a Twin Peaks model of financial regulation. On 1 April 2018 — the commencement date of the FSR Act — two
regulators, the Prudential Authority and the Financial Sector Conduct Authority, were established. This article considers the mechanisms
introduced by the FSR Act to facilitate cooperation
and collaboration between the South African Reserve Bank ('SARB') and the financial sector
regulators, and other organs of state as well, by comparing these measures to those available in Australia. The cooperation
and collaboration
in South Africa are discussed on two levels namely, first, the focused cooperation
and collaboration enabling the SARB to fulfil its financial
stability mandate and, secondly, the broader cooperation
and collaboration for the effective operation of the Twin Peaks model. This is
compared to the cooperation
and collaboration in Australia between the Reserve Bank of Australia and the other two regulatory agencies,
APRA and ASIC. It appears that immutable aspects of cooperation
and coordination
should preferably be captured in legislation, especially
aspects such as conflict resolution and lines of cooperation
and collaboration in crisis times.
