Page 22 - CISA 21 Years of Impact in Compliance

Jacques Marnewicke
Consultant: Group Legal, Compliance
My journey with CISA has been inextricably I was honoured to join the CISA Board in 2008 and
interwoven with my career as a compliance found myself in the company of seasoned heads of & Financial Crime, Sanlam
professional. The CISA provided a platform and compliance of the major banks, the largest insurers,
a conducive environment for me, as a novice, as well as some of the most prominent compliance
to interact with the trailblazers and titans of the consultants in South Africa. The collective knowledge
compliance industry from day one. of my fellow board members was nothing short of
intimidating, but members were always willing to
The opportunity to have learnt from the remarkable share their considerable knowledge and entertain
men and women who have founded and formed the my less than informed questions and views.
CISA and the compliance industry in South Africa
in the early years was unique. More special was CISA’s objective was always to grow a compliance
the willingness of those individuals to share their community of mature professionals who perform
knowledge and insights without any expectations of their duties for the greater good. The initial focus
reciprocity. of CISA was on the South African financial services
sector, but this shifted significantly during the first
I was introduced to the Compliance Institute of decade. It was recognised that compliance impacted
South Africa, the precursor to the CISA, in 1997. beyond the financial services sector, the private
At the time, I had less than basic understanding sector and even the borders of South Africa and that
of compliance and was looking for an alternative CISA would need to ensure its relevancy wherever
career. International and local experts introduced compliance was needed.
me to compliance and the following thoughts stood
me in good stead over my entire career: “compliance In 2009 the Board formally approved the Jacques Marnewicke
should be seen as insurance against directors’ Professionalism Project. The Project was launched
liability”; and “a compliance officer does not do in part in response to an offer to be part of a pilot Consultant: Group Legal, Compliance & Financial Crime, Sanlam
compliance or ensure it”. program with the Quality Council for Trades and
Occupations. The objective was to professionalise
This event doubled as a 1 general meeting and I, the compliance industry by moving from an
st
along with all other attendees, became a founding association to a recognised statutory professional
member of what would eventually become the CISA body for compliance officers.
of today.

My initial CISA involvement 21 years ago was limited On 16 November 2012 CISA was formally recognised
to anti-money laundering (AML) compliance. CISA as the professional body for compliance officers by
actively provided inputs into South Africa’s Financial the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) in
Intelligence Centre (FIC) Bill in the early 2000’s and a step that would allow CISA to provide professional
made an invaluable contribution to shaping the designations to qualifying members in terms of the
AML-regulatory environment. National Qualifications Framework Act. The SAQA
recognition paved the way for CISA to develop two
One founding board member of the CISA, John initial designations: Compliance Professional (CProf)
Symington, advocated over a remarkable period of and Compliance Practitioner (CPrac).
more than 15 years to convince the authorities that
compliance officers should not have a statutory duty
to ensure compliance with the FIC Act. His relentless MORE SPECIAL WAS THE WILLINGNESS
efforts resulted in a 2017-amendment to the Act that
recognised that a compliance officer “does not do OF THOSE INDIVIDUALS TO SHARE THEIR
compliance or ensure it”, something for which every
compliance officer should be eternally grateful! KNOWLEDGE AND INSIGHTS WITHOUT
ANY EXPECTATIONS OF RECIPROCITY.

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