Banks initiate SAMAR process in order to assist in reducing fraud by gaining control of movable assets currently excluded from registration on the Electronic National Traffic Information System (eNaTIS)

South African banking and finance industry to cover entire life-cycle of non-vehicle assets ROSEBANK – 15 November 2017 – The South African banking and finance industry has welcomed the creation of the Southern African Movable Asset Register (SAMAR) to help reduce fraud. SAMAR allows manufacturers, importers, builders, banks, insurers as well as the general public to control title and ownership of all movable assets. SAMAR’s system – developed at the request of several of the banks and importers of “yellow metal” assets – keeps a record to be kept of various assets and covers the life-cycle of a given asset – importantly including those that are currently not allowed to be loaded on eNaTIS (the Electronic National Traffic Information System). SAMAR creates the most recent reliable record of that asset by updating records in real-time as changes are made by various system participants such as financiers, dealerships and insurers. SAMAR’s use by Financial Institutions: • Registering movable assets on SAMAR will facilitate financing that may not otherwise have been available, by providing identifiable data and markings for tracking and control that are admissible in a court of law. • SAMAR will assist in preventing double-discounting and on sale of stolen assets as current ownership can be determined. SAMAR’s use by the insurance industry: • The total value of non-motor related movable assets financed and insured is substantial, and the risks of fraud require additional control. • The identification of these assets in instances where the purchaser owing, and/or in instances of loss due to theft, is problematic for both financier and insurer. Kyle Dutton, Project Manager at SAMAR commented, “Unfortunately due to lack of the marking of movable assets other than roadworthy and registered vehicles, millions of Rands are lost each year due to multiple financing on the same asset, the inability to claim ownership after an insurance claims pay-out or the inability to recover items in the second-hand market or criminal sales points. It is however crucial for both the financier and the insurer to be able to have access to a database where the owner could be linked to the specific asset in question – and this is what SAMAR aims to provide.” About SAMAR Regulation 5 of the National Road Traffic Act of 1996 (Act 93 of 1996) regulates that certain motor vehicles are not allowed to be registered on to the National Traffic Information System (eNaTIS). In 2011 the Inter Provincial Policy and Procedural (IPPP) committee, instructed the NRCS to adhere to legislation and stop providing eNaTIS model numbers for those vehicles prescribed in Regulation 5. The vehicles so prescribed are vehicles not designed for public road use, in other words, vehicles that cannot legally pass a roadworthy test. Within the banks’ standard controls, the use of “title” on a eNaTIS Registration Document is utilised as the confirmation of the bank’s interest in the asset. Therefore, by denying access to eNaTIS for such assets the ability of applying “title” (on mainly “yellow metal”) has effectively been withdrawn. This brought about the development of SAMAR at the request of several of the banks and importers of “yellow metal” assets as a practical solution to the impasse created. Today the risk officials at several of the institutions involved have asked for the use of SAMAR to be agreed across the industry.