FEES for many products in the financial sector remain too high, while a revised financial sector charter code will be gazetted shortly, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said yesterday.

He said that high costs in savings products undermined the national objective of getting people to save more.

He called on the financial industry to take more urgent steps to reduce costs and introduce more appropriate and transparent saving and investment products, including annuities. There is also much to be done to improve market conduct practices in the financial sector.

The "treating customers fairly initiative", meanwhile, will be accelerated to protect customers more vigorously.

Gordhan said, however, that agreement had been reached between stakeholders on enhanced targets for empowerment financing and access to financial services and that a revised financial sector charter code would be gazetted shortly for public comment by the minister of trade and industry.

Added to this, more appropriate and balanced capital adequacy and liquidity standards are being phased in for banks, and similar reforms are planned for the insurance sector.

SA is shifting towards a twin peaks system for financial regulation, where prudential and market conduct supervision of the financial sector are separated.

Gordhan said consultations would continue this year, with a view to tabling legislation in early 2013.

The minister also said proposals would be published for simplifying and modernising procedures for cross-border investments.