CORPORATE GOVERNANCE REPORT Operational excellence is showcased through the successful cloud-enabled production workloads and targeted enhancements to essential business applications, notably the PPS Insurance platforms. Rigorous disaster recovery tests serve as a testament to the organisation's commitment to operational resilience. The ongoing documentation and architecture designs meticulously follow industry best practices, solidifying the foundation for a governance-focused technological landscape. Collaboration between Group IT and business stakeholders remains pivotal, ensuring that IT interventions are intricately woven into overarching business priorities. The resolute commitment to cybersecurity, including the introduction of additional programs related to Information Security in 2023, underscores a relentless pursuit of enhanced cyber maturity within a sound governance framework. The foundation laid for modular systems and application programming interfaces development, positions the organisation for impactful customer-focus rollouts in 2024 and exemplifies a governance-minded approach to futureproofing technology initiatives. This further highlights the organisation's unwavering commitment to governance excellence and its preparedness for the industry's evolving landscape of technology governance. Regulatory developments During the year under review, there was a significant volume of proposed legislation and amendments to existing legislation, all of which will impact the governance and reporting of governance within the PPS Group. This has placed additional responsibilities on the PPS Group Boards and management to ensure adherence to, and compliance with, the new requirements. The most important upcoming legislative items for PPS are highlighted below: 1. Anti-money Laundering and Combating of Terrorism The General Laws (Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorism Financing) Amendment Bill and the Protection of Constitutional Democracy Against Terrorist and Related Activities Amendment Bill were passed by the National Council of Provinces and signed into law by the President. The passage of these Bills demonstrates the government’s commitment to fight corruption and terror financing and represents a giant step towards South Africa complying with the 40 Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations. The amendment of five pieces of legislation which are administered by different Ministers seeks to fully satisfy the technical compliance deficiencies (deficiencies relating to the adequacy of laws and legal frameworks related to the 40 FATF Recommendations) that were identified in the Mutual Evaluation Report. South Africa received a poor ratings assessment in its mutual evaluation, and as a result has been placed in an enhanced follow-up process, which involves more frequent reporting to the FATF, until South Africa has addressed all the deficiencies that were identified. The amendments will be focused on: • The Financial Intelligence Centre Act 38 of 2001 (FICA); • The Non-Profit Organisations Act; • The Trust Property Control Act (TPCA); • The Companies Act; and • The Financial Sector Regulations Act. The published regulations to the TPCA expands on the details to be captured on the Beneficial Owner’s register as well as the register of Accountable Institutions utilised by the trustees of trust entities as provided for in section 11 of the TPCA. The amendments also seek to align the definition of Beneficial Owner across the pieces of legislation listed above. 60 Corporate governance report
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