PA Transformation Programme

The PA is on a journey to become a best-in-class prudential regulator. Through the transformation programme, the PA seeks to modernise its supervisory approaches through several initiatives including upgrading its IT systems and infrastructure. Central to this journey is the empowerment of our staff with the best tools available globally to enable them to fulfil their functions and enhance the quality of supervision.

Where we come from

The Financial Sector Regulation Act (FSRA) gave effect to the establishment of the Prudential Authority and Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) which became effective on 1 April 2018.

The FSRA effectively merged supervisory responsibilities, personnel, processes, systems, and cultures of the following entities into the PA:

  • Bank Supervision Department (BSD) within SARB
  • Insurance Supervision Department which was within the former Financial Services Board (FSB)
  • Cooperative Financial Institution (CFI) supervision section of the Cooperative Bank Development Agency (CBDA) at National Treasury

As with any mergers, the need to create a new way of working that would enable the PA to deliver on its mandate was identified. 

Where we are going

The Prudential Authority of the future is one that uses advanced analytics capability to deliver relevant insights from a variety of data sources, with processes and systems that allow for more efficient co-ordination and collaboration on supervision and oversight.

How we will get there

The multi-year transformation journey commenced with the development and approval of a new target operating model (TOM).

Key projects identified to enable the TOM and assist the PA to meet its transformation objectives include the following:

  • Industry data taxonomy (IDT)
  • Integrated long-term solution (Umoja Solution)

To successfully deliver on the transformation objectives, The PA will engage with industry bodies and associations on an on-going basis, in an effort to minimise the impact on key stakeholders.

“The transformation programme is an incredibly important project for the PA and the institutions we supervise. Once implemented, it will assist us to achieve our strategic objectives by enabling the adoption of consistent regulatory strategies, collaboration and coordinated actions with other industry bodies as well as to reduce the cost of supervision in the long run” – Kuben Naidoo, SARB Deputy Governor and PA CEO.

One of the design principles adopted as part of the TOM design was the PA becoming an information-led organisation. To achieve this requires the ability to effectively gather and share information regarding the business models of financial market participants.

The industry data taxonomy project will define standard terminology and data classifications for all regulatory returns submitted by the institutions the PA regulates.

The project aims to meet the following objectives:

·            Enable the sharing of information among regulators to reduce the burden of regulation on
             institutions

·            Define both the quantitative and qualitative data taxonomies for all Institutions the PA
             regulates.

·            Ensure that the terms and definitions used for reporting are consistently understood and
             applied by supervised institutions and supervisors (SARB & FSCA).

Once defined and implemented, the taxonomy will provide a base for advanced analytics capabilities within PA and feed into the Umoja Solution.

Please click below for detailed IDT documents:

Data Point Methodology (DPS)

Industry Data Taxonomy References

Dictionary

Banking data model

Co-operative Financial Institutions (CFI) data model

Economics Statistics Department (ESD) data model

Financial Conglomerates (FC) data model

Insurance data model

Market Infrastructure (MI) data model

The Umoja solution advances the work completed by the Institute Information Management System (IIMS). IIMS was implemented as an interim solution which provided a platform that allowed the PA to move closer to an integrated solution for all institutions.

Umoja Solution not only replaces some of the existing legacy systems but introduces new technology with the following benefits:

  • A portal as a new channel of interaction between the supervised institutions and the PA.
  • Quality, reliable data that is available when needed and can be easily shared with PA stakeholders.
  • Supervised institutions will be able to see the progress on their applications.
  • A more holistic view of institution profiles.
  • Automation of certain analysis conducted by supervisory teams.
  • Market research analysis.

The Prudential Authority makes available a number of public-facing application programming interface (API) endpoints for consumption by supervised institutions that prefer to submit their returns in an automated fashion.

The scope of use and intended purpose of these public-facing API endpoints is to facilitate automated, machine-to-machine, or hands-free automation-driven submission of returns by reporting entities.

The files and artifacts shared in this area are meant to be used by supervised institutions, for the purpose of submitting returns through the automated machine-to-machine submission method, offered by the Prudential Authority API service.

Should you be a supervised institution with a preference to submit your returns programmatically through the API service, the PA highly recommends that you download and peruse the artifacts shared herein in the sequence they are listed :

 

1)  Umoja Phase 2, RE API Integration Overview Summary

2a)  PA API Service - VAS Swagger

2b)  PA API Service - VAS Swagger 

3)  Postman Workspace Global Variables.postman

4a)  Postman Environment - Umoja Training via EIP

4b)  Postman Environment - Umoja Training direct to Vizor-VAS

5)  Postman PA API Service - API Calls.postman

6)  PA SupTech API Reference Documentation - External

 

You may also download and make use of the XML XSD schemas shared below to perform client-side validation of your return data before submission of your returns.

 

Should you require further information or clarification regarding these artifacts, kindly get in touch with our frontline personnel to make your enquiry.

Sections

The tutorials below provide guidance on how to use the Umoja Portal to complete your tasks effectively through a series of simulated videos. Please click through to the relevant training tutorial for your institution type to begin your training.

 

Contact us

If you have further questions about the transformation program, please do not hesitate to contact us.