RE5 requirements: who must write it, what you need, and the deadlines

There are almost no requirements to write the RE5: no course, no qualification, no FSP number, just registration and the R1 300 fee. The requirements that matter are the ones for working as a representative, and the exam is only one of them.

So "RE5 requirements" is really two questions. What do I need to sit the exam? Almost nothing. What do I need to advise clients legally? Considerably more.

Who must write the RE5?

You must write the RE5 if you are appointed as a representative of a licensed FSP and you render financial services or advice to clients: financial advisers, brokers, short term and life insurance agents, tied agents, bank staff who advise on financial products, and staff dealing with medical schemes or funeral cover.

Key individuals write the RE1 instead. A key individual manages or oversees the financial services an FSP renders rather than advising the client. The full standard for approval is in key individual requirements, and RE1 vs RE5 settles which paper applies to you.

Someone doing both jobs, common in a small brokerage, typically needs both. One narrow carve-out exists: the exam requirement does not apply to a Category I FSP and the representatives approved only for long term insurance subcategory A or friendly society benefits. Outside that, the RE5 is not optional.

What do you need to register for the RE5?

Very little, and this is where the word "requirements" misleads. Moonstone's registration asks for:

• Your ID or passport number, matching the document you will bring on the day.
• Your personal and contact details.
• Your professional details, including an FSP number if you have one.
• The R1 300 fee, VAT inclusive, paid within 24 hours of registering.

You do not need an FSP number to write the RE5. People book before they are appointed anywhere, or between jobs. If the field does not apply to you, mark it as not applicable.

The two requirements that cost people a sitting are timing and payment. Registration closes 11 working days before each exam, more than two calendar weeks, and payment must arrive within 24 hours or the booking is not confirmed. How to book the RE5 has the full sequence.

Is there an RE5 course requirement?

No. There is no compulsory RE5 course, no attendance requirement and no prerequisite study. You register directly for the examination and write it under invigilation. Only the result counts.

Anything sold as an "RE5 course" is therefore optional tuition, not a requirement. Some is excellent, some is thin: how to choose RE5 study material covers what to look for. PassPath sits in that category too, and your booking always goes through Moonstone.

What does it take to pass the RE5?

The FSCA sets the pass mark at 65%. On a 50 question paper that is 32.5, and there is no half mark, so the real bar is 33 of 50 correct, which is 66%. Both figures describe the same threshold, as the RE5 pass mark explains.

The requirements to work as a representative

The exam is one leg of a broader standard, the FSCA's Determination of Fit and Proper Requirements (Board Notice 194 of 2017). It sets out six requirements, and the RE5 sits inside one of them:

• Honesty and integrity. A clean record on dishonesty offences, with a duty on you and the FSP to disclose anything bearing on it.
• Good standing. Past regulatory action, certain civil judgments and previous debarments all weigh against you.
• Competence. The leg the RE5 belongs to, alongside a qualification recognised by the FSCA for your product categories, appropriate experience, and class of business and product specific training. Competence is judged per category.
• Continuous professional development. A standing requirement, not a once-off. The CPD cycle runs from 1 June to 31 May, with minimum hours of 6, 12 or 18 depending on how many classes of business you cover.
• Operational ability. The practical capacity to render the services you are appointed for.
• Financial soundness. Solvency and insolvency history, which bites hardest on the FSP itself.

Passing the RE5 does not make you a representative: authorisation comes from being appointed by a licensed FSP and appearing on its register, and the exam is one box the FSP ticks. A new representative can work under supervision while the exam is still outstanding, which is what the two year window exists for.

Which qualifications count, and how much experience each category needs, sit in the determination and the FSCA's recognised qualification lists, both updated from time to time.

The deadline requirement: how long do you have?

Under FAIS Notice 86 of 2018, a supervised representative must complete the applicable regulatory examination within 2 years of their date of first appointment, the DOFA. That is the date you were first appointed as a representative and added to an FSP's register. It does not reset when you change employers.

The exam must be passed inside that window, not merely booked. Results take up to 20 working days, so your last safe date to write is roughly a month before your deadline. Working backwards from your DOFA turns that into a booking plan.

Miss it and you cannot remain on the representative register. Debarment is the consequence, and some FSPs remove a representative first to avoid the record.

RE5 certificate requirements

Nothing beyond passing. No separate application, no extra fee, no paperwork: Moonstone releases your result and that result is your certificate. Allow a maximum lead time of 20 working days.

What is required of the certificate afterwards falls on your employer. Your FSP records the result in its competence register, filed against your DOFA, and keeps the evidence available for the FSCA. The RE5 certificate guide covers what it proves. The result carries no stated expiry, but your fit and proper standing depends on staying current: does the RE5 expire.

If the RE5 is the requirement standing between you and a clean competence file, start with where you stand. PassPath's free readiness check takes about 15 minutes, needs no card, and scores you against every FSCA qualifying criterion the exam tests, so you can see what would cost you marks before committing R1 300.

PassPath is an independent study platform. The RE1 and RE5 are written through Moonstone; PassPath is not affiliated with Moonstone or the FSCA.