LESSON 03 · 14:53 VIDEO
Financial products.
Know what the service relates to. Then distinguish the product type from the permission to provide a particular service.
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What you’ll learn
- Recognise examples of financial products under FAIS.
- Separate a product type from an FSP licence category.
- Understand what crypto regulation does and does not imply.
Identify the product
FAIS covers defined financial products, including specified securities and instruments, insurance policies, deposits, participatory interests in collective investment schemes and certain retirement and medical scheme benefits. This is a starting list, not a substitute for the complete statutory definition and its qualifications.
A product and a service are not the same
A policy is a product. Recommending it is an activity. In a scenario, identify both rather than treating “insurance” as the complete answer. The licence scope and the person’s appointment also matter when deciding what they may do.
Read the licence scope
An FSP licence is not unrestricted permission to advise on every product. Check the authorised service and product scope. Being authorised for an intermediary service does not automatically authorise advice, and authorisation for one product type does not automatically cover every other product.
Where crypto assets fit
The FSCA declared crypto assets a financial product under FAIS in October 2022. This brought relevant financial services into its regulatory framework. Regulation is not a promise that an investment is safe, profitable or endorsed by the regulator.
Build a useful revision table
Use three columns: product, activity and authorisation to check. For example, a client asks for a recommendation about a unit trust. Identify the participatory interest, the advice activity and the applicable licence scope. Practise the same approach with an insurance policy and a deposit.
Sources & further reading
FAIS Act, sections 1, 7 and 8; FSCA crypto asset declaration (2022). These are short study notes to accompany the video, not a word-for-word transcript.
- FAIS Act and amendment references
- FSCA RE5 preparation material
- FSCA crypto asset declaration announcement
RE5 Master learning notes · Updated 2 November 2026. Use current official material alongside your revision.