Asisa warns regulatory overlap could raise compliance costs

The Association for Savings and Investment South Africa (Asisa) has called on government authorities to adopt a unified, consultative approach to regulatory policy, warning that a fragmented landscape of overlapping frameworks risks increasing compliance costs without improving transformation outcomes.

Read: Transformation at the top still confronts banking sector

The call accompanied the release of the Asisa Industry Transformation Report for 2026, titled “Transformation that Works: Evidence, Impact and the Road Ahead”.

The annual report measures eight years of progress under the amended Financial Sector Code (FSC) across member firms representing 98% of life office assets under management (AuM) and 83% of asset management AuM.

Regulatory overlap and policy concerns

Over the past five years, seven regulatory authorities have introduced 10 distinct frameworks aimed at driving transformation, creating policy friction alongside the established amended FSC.

Asisa highlighted concerns about the potential unintended consequences of four key state interventions: the dtic’s [Department of Trade, Industry and Competition] Transformation Fund, National Treasury’s Draft General Public Procurement Regulations, the Department of Employment and Labour’s employment equity reforms, and the Department of Higher Education and Training’s Skills Development Reform Programme.

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Addressing the industry’s position on regulatory alignment, Kaizer Moyane, CEO of Asisa, said:

“Let me be clear: Asisa members do not see transformation as a burden, but as a strategic imperative that strengthens our businesses, benefits our clients, and ultimately drives economic growth.

“We are therefore asking government to engage us as partners on the transformation journey by harnessing the knowledge of those who must implement it, and producing rules that are not only practical and aligned, but also achievable and well researched.”

Proposed key reforms

The report details member feedback and concrete counter-proposals across critical regulatory areas:

Transformation Fund alignment: Asisa proposes that the central Transformation Fund coexist with established, sector-specific enterprise and supplier development (ESD) programmes, rather than replace them. Member firms currently invest an average of R814 million a year in ESD initiatives.
Preferential procurement baselines: To prevent the pool of eligible suppliers from shrinking, Asisa recommends retaining 51% black ownership as the majority-ownership baseline, recognising 100% ownership as a premium tier, and retaining B-BBEE certification as the primary procurement gateway.
Leadership and skills pipelines: The industry is calling for sector employment equity targets to be set through consultation and aligned directly with the available pool of qualified professionals and existing skills development frameworks.

Ownership and financial inclusion metrics

Data from the 2026 report shows measurable structural gains in equity ownership, with levels exceeding statutory targets since the amended FSC was introduced in 2017:

Life office equity ownership: Black ownership reached 33.1% at the end of 2025, exceeding the 25% target and rising from 13.7% in unencumbered shareholding in 2018.
Asset manager equity ownership: Black ownership increased to 45.8% at the end of 2025, well above the 25% target and up from 22.2% in 2018.
Targeted procurement allocation: In 2025, member firms directed R27.8 billion to 51% black-owned suppliers, R16.1 billion to 30% black women-owned suppliers and more than R10.4 billion to exempt micro-enterprises.
Socio-economic and skills spend: Members invested R442 million in socio-economic development and consumer financial education in 2025, alongside an annual average of R2.85 billion in skills development programmes, bursaries and learnerships.

Executive leadership perspective

Despite progress in ownership and procurement, transformation at board, executive and senior management level remains the industry’s primary operational hurdle.

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Framing the structural talent challenge, Lister Saungweme, senior policy advisor for Transformation, Skills Development and Education at Asisa, said:

“These persistent challenges are not caused by a lack of commitment to transformation, but by the limited pool of suitably qualified candidates for specialist roles and the long timelines required to develop a strong pipeline of skilled Black professionals.”

Read: Legal firms press ahead with court bid to scrap BEE sector code

Moyane concluded that credible, independently verified data remains essential to inform national policy and safeguard progress:

“We acknowledge that the pace of transformation as a whole remains a national challenge. We present this report as a record of what our industry has achieved in this context, and as an honest account of the work that remains for our members.

“Above all, it is a constructive contribution to the conversation about how South Africa can best accelerate transformation and achieve more inclusive and sustainable outcome.”

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