Regulatory Alerts2006-01-02
Banks Act Circular 2/2006: Electronic Communication with the Registrar of Banks
The South African Reserve Bank’s Registrar of Banks mandates that all financial institutions submit official electronic correspondence to a centralized email address (SARB-BANKSUP@resbank.co.za). Messages directed to individual staff members will no longer be registered or processed, ensuring proper tracking and timely responses. Institutions must return a duly completed and signed acknowledgement of receipt from both the chief executive officer and independent auditors.
South African Reserve Bank
FROM THE OFFICE OF THE REGISTRAR OF BANKS
CONFIDENTIAL
2006-02-01
TO ALL BANKS, BRANCHES OF FOREIGN BANKS, MUTUAL BANKS, REPRESENTATIVE OFFICES OF FOREIGN INSTITUTIONS OPERATING IN SOUTH AFRICA AND REPRESENTATIVE OFFICES OF SOUTH AFRICAN BANKS OPERATING ABROAD
BANKS ACT CIRCULAR 2/2006
ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION WITH THIS OFFICE
1. Introduction
This Office receives on a daily basis numerous official electronic messages (e-mail), which messages are addressed directly to individual staff members within this Office. This Office is concerned that official correspondence may not receive attention or get mislaid when the documentation is submitted directly to individual staff members. This Office is also concerned that the said practice may lead to undue delays in our response time and that the correspondence might not be registered properly within our central registry.
2. Electronic communication: new e-mail address
In the light of the concerns set out above, this Office has established a centralised e-mail address to which banks must submit all official electronic correspondence.
As of the date of this circular, all banks are required to utilise the following e-mail address for the submission of all electronic enquiries and/or correspondence:
Please note that the electronic messages that are sent to individual staff members within this Office, instead of to the above e-mail address, shall in future neither be registered nor processed.
3. Telephonic enquiries
Please note that the current single point-of-entry arrangement for telephonic enquiries remains in place.
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4. Acknowledgement of receipt
Two additional copies of this circular are enclosed for the use of your institution's independent auditors. The attached acknowledgement of receipt, duly completed and signed by both the chief executive officer of the institution and the said auditors, should be returned to this Office at the earliest convenience of the aforementioned signatories.
[Signature]
E M Kruger Registrar of Banks
The previous circular issued was Banks Act Circular 1/2006 dated 3 January 2006.