Who does this code apply to?

Organisations and practitioners who are listed by the Association, or who apply to be. It is not law and the Association cannot enforce it beyond what it publishes: the sanction available is to record a breach, to change or withdraw a listing, and to say so. Legal obligations under the National Credit Act, FAIS, FICA and POPIA apply regardless of this code.

What happens if someone breaches the code?

It is handled under the complaints and review process. The Association can ask for an explanation, correct what it publishes, record the matter, and change or withdraw a listing. It cannot fine anyone, order compensation or compel evidence, and it says so rather than implying powers it does not have.

Private Lending Code of Conduct

Adopted

Adopted by the founding members on 17 September 2026 under the Association’s constitution (PLA-GOV-001), and maintained under it. Amendments are recorded with the date of the resolution that made them.

This code sits alongside the standards, which describe what an organisation or practitioner must show to be listed. The standards are checked at a point in time; this code describes conduct expected continuously, between checks, when nobody is looking.

1. Honesty in everything shown to the public

No material describes a private-lending return as guaranteed, risk-free, secure or capital-protected.
No projection is presented as an expectation, and every illustration is labelled as an illustration.
No claim of being the largest, the best or the first is made without evidence that a reader can check.
Past outcomes, where mentioned, are not offered as an indication of future ones.

2. Clarity about who you are and what you do

The legal entity, its registration number and its role in the transaction are stated in writing before capital moves.
Where a registration is required for the role, the number is published and can be checked on a public register.
The party that holds the capital, the party that grants the credit and the party that administers repayment are each identified, even where they are the same entity.

3. Risk explained as clearly as return

Any material quoting a rate also explains what the capital is exposed to and on what the return of capital depends.
The absence of deposit insurance is stated plainly wherever a comparison with a bank is invited.
Illiquidity is described in concrete terms: whether there is an exit, on what terms, and how long capital is realistically committed.

4. Suitability before numbers

Circumstances are discussed before a rate is quoted.
Where an arrangement is plainly unsuitable — capital that is needed back on a date, or a reader's only capital — that is said, and the conversation stops.
Nobody is told that private lending is a substitute for an emergency fund.

5. No pressure

No closing dates, limited allocations, expiring rates or other urgency devices.
A reader who says they want to think about it is left to think about it.
Nothing is signed in the first meeting that could not be signed a week later.

6. Disclosure of interest

Commission, fees and who pays them are disclosed before an introduction and confirmed in writing on request.
Any relationship with a platform, provider or administrator that could affect what is recommended is disclosed.
Partnership with the Association is disclosed, and never presented as an endorsement or a verification.

7. Proper process

Where the party is an accountable institution, risk-based customer due diligence under FICA is applied, and a client who is not asked for identification where it should apply is entitled to ask why.
Personal information is handled under POPIA, and used for the purpose it was given.
Records are kept of what was shown, what was said and what was sent.

8. Cooperation when something goes wrong

Complaints are acknowledged, investigated and answered.
Where a listing on this site is in question, the subject cooperates with the Association's review.
Errors in published material are corrected promptly and visibly.

What the Association can do about a breach

It can ask for an explanation, record the matter, correct what it publishes, and change or withdraw a listing — recording the change as suspended or expired rather than deleting it, because a record that quietly disappears tells a reader nothing.

It cannot fine anyone, order redress, compel evidence or stop anyone from trading. Those powers belong to regulators and to the courts, and complaints and review names the bodies that hold them.

Common questions

Who does this code apply to?: Organisations and practitioners who are listed by the Association, or who apply to be. It is not law and the Association cannot enforce it beyond what it publishes: the sanction available is to record a breach, to change or withdraw a listing, and to say so. Legal obligations under the National Credit Act, FAIS, FICA and POPIA apply regardless of this code.
What happens if someone breaches the code?: It is handled under the complaints and review process. The Association can ask for an explanation, correct what it publishes, record the matter, and change or withdraw a listing. It cannot fine anyone, order compensation or compel evidence, and it says so rather than implying powers it does not have.

Educational, not advice

This page explains how something works. It is not financial, legal or tax advice, it takes no account of your circumstances, and nothing here is a recommendation to lend. Private lending places capital at risk.