How Long Does a Representative Have to Pass RE5? The DOFA Timelines Explained

A representative is appointed on 1 March 2024. The FSP's onboarding programme runs for several months, covering product training and systems orientation. By the end of that year, the representative has not yet begun RE5 preparation. The FSP's KI tells the rep not to worry — there is still time.

There is less time than the KI believes. The representative's 2-year window to pass RE5 started on 1 March 2024 — the date of first appointment. By the end of the onboarding year, twelve months have already elapsed. The deadline is 28 February 2026. That clock has been running since day one.

This is the DOFA problem. The two-year window under FSCA FAIS Notice 86 of 2018 runs from the date of first appointment — not from when studying begins, not from when the FSP formally starts an RE5 programme, and not from when the representative first becomes aware they need to pass the exam.

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The Rule

Under FSCA FAIS Notice 86 of 2018 (the supervision exemption), a supervised representative has 2 years from the date of first appointment (DOFA) to pass RE5. "Date of first appointment" is defined in Notice 86 as the date on which a person was first appointed as a representative — nothing else. Three other timelines also run from the appointment date: class of business training must be completed within 12 months, the formal qualification within 6 years, and CPD starts when all three competency requirements are met (not from DOFA).

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The DOFA Framework

What DOFA Is

The date of first appointment (DOFA) is defined in FSCA FAIS Notice 86 of 2018 as "the date on which a person was first appointed as a representative." This is the appointment date — not the date the supervision agreement was signed, not the date the representative first sat with a client, and not the date the FSP added them to the register. The moment the appointment takes effect is when DOFA is fixed.

The Default Rule and the Supervision Exception

The Fit and Proper Requirements (Board Notice 194 of 2017, Section 26(6)) set the default position:

An FSP, a key individual and a representative must successfully pass the applicable regulatory examinations before that person's authorisation, approval or appointment.

Under BN 194, a representative who has not passed RE5 cannot be appointed at all. The supervision framework in FSCA FAIS Notice 86 of 2018 creates the exception: an FSP may appoint a representative under supervision without the representative having met the competency requirements, provided the representative is working toward those requirements within the prescribed time limits.

The 2-year RE5 window is part of that exception. It exists because of Notice 86, not because of BN 194. BN 194 gives no grace period.

Note: representatives who were already operating under supervision before FSCA FAIS Notice 86 of 2018 came into effect on 1 February 2019 remain subject to the older Board Notice 104 of 2008 timeline — a 12-month window from date of first appointment to pass the regulatory examination. This transitional provision applies to a diminishing population; all representatives appointed on or after 1 February 2019 fall under Notice 86.

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The Four DOFA Timelines

The following table summarises the timelines that run from DOFA under FSCA FAIS Notice 86 of 2018, Condition 2:

Requirement	Deadline
RE5 (regulatory examination)	2 years from DOFA
Class of business training	12 months from first appointment per product
Formal qualification	6 years from first appointment per product
CPD obligations	Start when RE5 + class of business + qualification are all met, or after 6 years from DOFA — whichever comes first

Note: the class of business and qualification deadlines run from the date of first appointment "in respect of a particular financial product," which may differ from overall DOFA if the representative is appointed in stages for different products.

Condition 2(1): RE5 — 2 Years from DOFA

FSCA FAIS Notice 86 of 2018, Annexure A, Condition 2(1) states:

A supervised representative, other than a supervised representative referred to in paragraph (2), must within 2 years from date of first appointment comply with the applicable regulatory examination requirements.

If this deadline is not met, the exemption under Notice 86 ceases to apply to the representative. They can no longer render financial services under supervision and the FSP cannot lawfully keep them on as a representative until they pass.

Condition 2(3)(a): Class of Business Training — 12 Months

Class of business training is the product-specific training module that must be completed before or shortly after a representative begins work with a particular financial product. Under Condition 2(3)(a), it must be completed within 12 months of first appointment in respect of that product. This is the shortest of the four deadlines and the one most commonly missed by representatives who focus on the RE5 window.

Condition 2(3)(b): Formal Qualification — 6 Years

The formal recognised qualification (a structured academic programme at NQF level) must be obtained within 6 years of first appointment in respect of the relevant product. This is the longest deadline and is rarely the immediate compliance priority for newly appointed representatives — but it is fixed and runs regardless of whether the rep is actively working toward it.

Condition 2(4): CPD — Not from DOFA

A common examination misconception is that CPD obligations start from DOFA. They do not. Under Condition 2(4), CPD obligations for supervised representatives begin either:

• when the representative has met all three competency requirements (class of business training, RE5, and formal qualification), or
• after 6 years from DOFA, whichever occurs first.

This means a representative who is still working through their qualification after passing RE5 is not yet required to fulfil CPD obligations. CPD starts after the compliance ladder is complete.

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The Tier 2 Exception

There is an important variation to the 2-year RE5 rule for representatives whose initial appointment is limited to Tier 2 financial products or execution of sales only.

Under Condition 2(2) of Notice 86, for these representatives, the 2-year RE5 clock does not start at original DOFA. It starts from the date on which they are first appointed to render financial services in respect of a Tier 1 financial product.

In practice: a representative appointed in January 2024 to handle only Tier 2 products who is expanded to Tier 1 work in July 2025 has until June 2027 to pass RE5 — not December 2025. The clock resets to the Tier 1 appointment date.

This provision prevents representatives from having their 2-year RE5 window eroded by time spent doing work that RE5 is not actually required for.

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Where Representatives Go Wrong

The most common error is treating the 2-year window as something that starts when the FSP actively programmes the representative into an RE5 study plan. In practice, many KIs frame the timeline this way — telling new reps they have "two years from when you start studying" or "two years from when we begin the programme." This framing is wrong.

The clock runs from the date of appointment. A representative who spends the first year of their appointment on onboarding, product training, and system orientation without touching RE5 study has used half their window. When the FSP's formal RE5 programme starts, they may have 12 months left, not 24.

The DOFA definition is also sometimes confused with:

• the date the supervision agreement was signed (DOFA may be the same date, but the definition is the appointment date — if these differ, the earlier date applies);
• the date the representative was added to the FSP's register (again, the register update follows from the appointment — DOFA is the appointment date itself).

A second misconception is that the 2-year RE5 deadline and the CPD cycle both start from DOFA. The CPD cycle runs on the national 1 June to 31 May schedule — it is not representative-specific. For supervised representatives, CPD does not start from DOFA at all; it starts after full competency is established.

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What Happens If the Deadline Is Missed

If a supervised representative fails to pass RE5 within 2 years of DOFA, the exemption under FSCA FAIS Notice 86 of 2018 ceases to apply. The representative can no longer render financial services under supervision. The FSP must either:

• remove the representative from the register of representatives; or
• debar the representative under Section 14 of the FAIS Act if the failure to meet competency requirements constitutes a lack of competence.

The FSP faces regulatory exposure if it continues to deploy a representative whose Notice 86 exemption has lapsed. The representative is not automatically debarred — the FSP must take action — but the representative cannot lawfully continue working.

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The Exemptions from RE5

Not all representatives face these deadlines. Under BN 194, Section 25(b), the regulatory examination requirement does not apply to:

• representatives appointed only to render financial services in respect of Long-term Insurance subcategory A and/or Friendly Society Benefits;
• representatives appointed only to perform the execution of sales in respect of a Tier 1 financial product; and
• representatives appointed only to render financial services in respect of a Tier 2 financial product.

If a representative's entire mandate falls within one of these categories, RE5 is not required and the 2-year DOFA deadline does not apply. These representatives are also exempt from the 6-year qualification requirement.

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Practical Implications

For newly appointed representatives:

Note the date of your appointment. This is DOFA. From this date, you have 2 years to pass RE5, 12 months per product to complete class of business training, and 6 years per product to obtain the formal qualification. If the FSP's study programme does not begin immediately, your window is already shrinking. Do not wait for the FSP to start the clock — it started on the day you were appointed.

For KIs and compliance officers:

Track DOFA for every supervised representative. When building study plans and RE5 registration timelines, work back from the 2-year DOFA deadline. A representative whose DOFA was 12 months ago has one year left — not two years from the start of the programme. The register update under FSCA FAIS Notice 86 of 2018, Condition 4(2)(b) requires the FSP to update the registers within 15 days after a representative ceases to render financial services under supervision.

For exam candidates:

In RE5 scenarios testing supervised representative obligations, the question will specify a date of appointment and ask when the representative must pass the exam. The answer is always "2 years from the date of first appointment" — not from when studying begins, not from when the supervision agreement was signed, not from any other reference date. When you see "DOFA" in a question, translate it to "the appointment date itself."

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Key Takeaways

• Under FSCA FAIS Notice 86 of 2018, a supervised representative has 2 years from DOFA to pass RE5. DOFA is the date of appointment.
• Three other deadlines also run from DOFA: class of business training (12 months per product), formal qualification (6 years per product), and CPD (starts after all three are complete or 6 years from DOFA).
• CPD does NOT start from DOFA — it starts when the full competency framework is satisfied.
• For Tier 2-only representatives, the 2-year RE5 clock starts from their first Tier 1 appointment, not from original DOFA.
• Missing the 2-year RE5 deadline causes the BN 86 exemption to lapse — the representative can no longer work under supervision until RE5 is passed.
• Some representatives are exempt from RE5 entirely: Long-term Insurance subcategory A only, Tier 2 product only, and execution-of-sales only representatives.