Description

Market Conduct Toolkit for South African Financial Institutions

The Market Conduct Toolkit is an editable downloadable policy, procedures and implementation pack designed for South African financial institutions that need practical tools to manage conduct risk, customer outcomes, product governance and COFI readiness.

This Market Conduct Toolkit helps financial institutions move from general compliance wording to practical implementation. It includes a market conduct policy, readiness checklists, customer outcome tools, product governance templates, marketing approval controls, direct marketing registers, advice and sales quality assurance tools, complaints root-cause templates, conduct MI reporting tools and COFI gap analysis templates.

For related compliance templates, you may also view our Operational Governance Framework Template, Risk Management Policy Template and Client Advisory Policy Pack.

For official regulatory context, you can also visit the FSCA Treating Customers Fairly page and the National Treasury COFI Bill page.

What Is Included In This Market Conduct Toolkit?

This toolkit is designed to help financial institutions implement market conduct controls across the full customer lifecycle, from product design and marketing to advice, sales, servicing, complaints, remediation and board reporting.

The main policy and procedures include sections for:

• Market conduct commitment and customer outcome principles
• Regulatory and policy framework
• Market conduct governance, accountability and roles
• Market conduct risk universe
• Conduct risk appetite and tolerance
• Market conduct risk management process
• Product and service lifecycle governance
• Target market, product approval and product review procedures
• Advertising, marketing, promotions and communication procedures
• Direct marketing, electronic communication and customer contact controls
• Advice, intermediary services, sales and execution-only controls
• Disclosure, plain language and customer understanding
• Fees, charges, remuneration and value-for-money controls
• Conflicts of interest and incentives
• Vulnerable customers, inclusion and fair access
• Claims, complaints and post-sale servicing
• Data, privacy, digital conduct and automated advice
• Outsourcing, distribution and third-party conduct oversight
• Monitoring, MI, reporting and assurance
• Breach, incident, remediation and consequence management
• Training, awareness and culture
• COFI readiness implementation guide
• 90-day implementation roadmap

Market Conduct Toolkit Templates Included

The Market Conduct Toolkit includes practical templates and registers that can be used to create evidence of implementation, monitoring and management oversight.

The templates include:

• Market Conduct Applicability Assessment
• Market Conduct Legal Universe Template
• Market Conduct Risk Register
• Product and Target Market Approval Checklist
• Marketing and Communications Approval Checklist
• Direct Marketing Consent and Opt-Out Register
• Plain Language and Customer Understanding Checklist
• Vulnerable Customer Assessment and Support Plan
• Advice, Sales and Execution-Only QA Checklist
• Complaints Root Cause and Remediation Register
• Market Conduct MI Dashboard Template
• Product Outcome Review Template
• Fees, Charges and Remuneration Review Template
• Outsourcing and Distributor Conduct Oversight Checklist
• Conduct Breach / Incident Report Form
• Corrective Action Register
• Board / Management Market Conduct Report Template
• COFI Readiness Gap Analysis
• Market Conduct Implementation Action Plan
• Training Attendance and Awareness Register
• Market Conduct Evidence Index
• Policy Adoption and Staff Acknowledgement

Additional Readiness Checklists and Workbook

This product also includes market conduct implementation tools and readiness checklists to help the organisation assess its current position and prioritise gaps.

The implementation tools include:

• Overall Market Conduct Readiness Checklist
• COFI Readiness Checklist
• TCF Outcome Implementation Checklist
• Product Governance and Fair Value Assessment
• Marketing and Advertising Approval Form
• Direct Marketing Consent and Opt-Out Control Tool
• Advice, Sales and Intermediary Services QA Checklist
• Digital Channel and Automated Advice Readiness Tool
• Vulnerable Customer Support Tool
• Complaints Root Cause and Remediation Tool
• Outsourcing and Third-Party Conduct Risk Assessment
• Market Conduct Monitoring Plan
• Market Conduct MI Report Template
• Implementation Action Plan Template
• Evidence Index Template
• Market Conduct Training Matrix
• Minimum implementation file structure guidance
• Excel implementation workbook for live tracking

Why Financial Institutions Need a Market Conduct Toolkit

Market conduct is not only about having a policy. It is about proving that customers are treated fairly across product design, advertising, advice, sales, servicing, claims, complaints, fees, communication, digital channels and remediation.

A practical Market Conduct Toolkit helps financial institutions document how customer outcomes are identified, monitored, reported and improved. It also helps management move beyond checklist compliance and build evidence of outcomes-focused conduct governance.

This toolkit helps address common weaknesses such as:

• No documented market conduct framework
• No customer outcome monitoring process
• No COFI readiness gap analysis
• No TCF outcome implementation checklist
• No target market or product approval controls
• No marketing and advertising approval process
• No direct marketing consent and opt-out register
• No advice, sales or execution-only QA checklist
• No vulnerable customer support process
• No complaints root-cause and remediation register
• No conduct MI dashboard or board reporting template
• No evidence index for market conduct implementation

COFI Readiness and Customer Outcome Controls

The Market Conduct Toolkit includes a COFI readiness implementation guide and gap analysis to help the organisation prepare for stronger outcomes-focused conduct expectations.

The toolkit helps the organisation assess activity mapping, customer outcome governance, product lifecycle controls, distribution oversight, fees and remuneration, transformation and inclusion, data and digital conduct, monitoring, MI and board reporting.

Product Governance, Marketing and Sales Controls

The toolkit includes product and target market assessment tools to help the organisation consider customer need, affordability, fair value, exclusions, limitations, vulnerable customer impact, distribution channels and outcome indicators before products or services are launched or reviewed.

It also includes marketing and communication approval tools to check whether advertising is factually correct, balanced, not misleading, plain-language and appropriate for the target market.

Complaints, Remediation and Conduct MI

The Market Conduct Toolkit includes complaints root-cause and remediation tools to help the organisation identify repeat themes, customer impact, systemic issues and corrective actions.

The Market Conduct MI Dashboard and Board / Management Market Conduct Report Template help management report on complaints, advice QA, execution-only deviations, marketing withdrawals, vulnerable customer escalations, product reviews, conduct breaches and COFI readiness actions.

Who Should Use This Market Conduct Toolkit?

• Financial Services Providers
• Credit providers
• Insurers and insurance intermediaries
• Retirement fund administrators
• CIS managers and investment businesses
• Market conduct, risk and compliance teams
• Key Individuals and senior managers
• Product owners, marketing teams and complaints teams
• Financial institutions preparing for COFI readiness
• Compliance consultants assisting clients with conduct risk implementation

Editable and Customisable Market Conduct Template Pack

This Market Conduct Toolkit is editable and must be customised before use. The organisation must insert its name, licence numbers, products, services, customer segments, distribution channels, outsourcing arrangements, governance roles, conduct risk appetite, reporting process and evidence locations.

The toolkit should be aligned to the organisation’s actual regulatory status, product range, customer base, business model, advice process, marketing channels, complaints process and digital environment.

Important Compliance Note

This Market Conduct Toolkit is a compliance and implementation support resource. It does not replace legal advice, regulatory advice, COFI implementation consulting, product governance review, compliance officer monitoring or FSCA engagement. Each organisation remains responsible for ensuring that its final documents are accurate, implemented, monitored and aligned with its actual products, services, customers and regulatory obligations.