The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) is a regulatory body in South Africa for the non-banking financial services sector. FSCA has been responsible for regulating the non-banking financial services industry since 2018.

 

This is a list of the best FSCA-regulated forex brokers in South Africa

 

In this in-depth guide you’ll learn:

• What is the role of the FSCA?
• Is forex trading legal in South Africa?
• Can forex brokers in South Africa be trusted?
• Regulation requirements of forex brokers in South Africa?
• How can you protect yourself from being scammed?

And lots more…

Let’s dive right in…

 

 

FSCA was established as a successor to the Financial Services Board (FSB). It is an independent body and has a mandate to supervise and regulate the non-bank financial services industry in the public interest.

 

Note: FSB was the governing body responsible for the regulation of the non-banking financial services industry in South Africa from 1990 to 2018.

 

📈Trading as	📛FSP Name	🔢FSP No	✅Status
Alpari International	Exinity Limited	50320	Verified
AvaTrade	Ava Capital Markets (Pty) Ltd	45984	Verified
DMA	SCM DMA (Pty) Ltd	40983	Verified
Easy Equities	First World Trade (Pty) Ltd	22588	Verified
ExCentral	OM Bridge SA	48296	Verified
Exness	Vlerizo (Pty) Ltd	51024	Verified
FXCM	FXCM SA (Pty) Ltd	46534	Verified
FXTM	ForexTime Limited	46614	Verified
GT247	Purple Group	46315	Verified
HotForex	HF Markets Limited	46632	Verified
IG Markets	IG Markets SA Limited	41393	Verified
Infinox	Infinox Capital (Pty) Ltd	50506	Verified
Markets.com	TradeTech Markets SA (Pty) Ltd	46860	Verified
Pepperstone	Pepperstone Group Limited	49497	Verified
Plus500	Plus500 AU (Pty) Ltd	47546	Verified
QuickTrade	QuickTrade (Pty) Ltd	45262	Verified
Scope Markets	Scope Markets SA (Pty) Ltd	47025	Verified
ThinkMarkets	TF Global Markets SA (Pty) Ltd	49835	Verified
Tickmill	Tickmill (Oracle) SA Limited	49464	Verified
Trade Nation	Trade Nation Financial (Pty) Ltd	49846	Verified
Velocity Trade	Velocity Trade Financial Services (Pty) Ltd	43295	Verified

 

Currently, the foreign exchange (forex) industry in South Africa is not formally regulated in the same way licensed financial institutions are regulated by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB). It is recommended that forex brokers in South Africa become authorized by FSCA but it is not obligatory.

 

Note: SARB is the primary financial regulator in South Africa and its purpose is to achieve a sound, efficient banking system in the interest of the depositors of banks and the economy as a whole.

 

 

What is the role of the FSCA?

The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) is a relatively newly-established governing body, although it has its roots in the old Financial Services Board (FSB). The FSCA is highly regarded as a competent regulatory authority in South Africa.

 

The FSB was originally founded as part of the FAIS Act of 2003 to root out and deal with corruption and improper dealings within insurance and pension companies.

 

The regulations created to govern the insurance and pensions industry were not effective in regulating exchange-traded products or CFDs. Forex scams and bad brokers were doing real damage to the industry and getting away with it.

 

The forex industry in South Africa had a bad reputation because so many investors fell victim to unscrupulous brokers. It was extremely difficult for honest, legitimate forex brokers to operate in the industry because they were painted with the same tar brush.

 

The FSCA is following due process to introduce a new regime aimed at cleaning up the forex and CFD industry. The proposed regime will provide the FSCA with a real chance to stamp out scams and illegal bonus promotions in the South African forex market and create an environment where traders and investors are treated fairly.

 

Is forex trading legal in South Africa?

Forex trading is legal in South Africa, as long as traders and brokers abide by the financial laws of the country. These laws specifically prevent money laundering and ensure all income earned from forex trading is declared in income tax returns.

 

The forex industry in South Africa is unregulated in the sense that it is not compulsory to be authorized by a financial regulatory body. However, FSCA exists to provide an extra layer of protection to traders and investors even though it is not a legal requirement to trade through an FSCA-regulated broker.

 

Can forex brokers in South Africa be trusted?

There are several forex brokers in South Africa that have a proven track record for honesty, integrity, and fair trading. You can find these companies listed on websites like Forex Trading Africa that compare forex brokers in South Africa and conduct extensive broker reviews.

 

Forex brokers who are not registered members of the FSCA or an overseas regulatory authority are considered highly dubious. Unregulated brokers can offer unlimited leverage and market promotional bonuses that make them look very appealing to local traders without consequences. If what they are promising is a scam, traders and investors have no safeguards and no recourse.

 

You’ll find all the reputable forex brokers in South Africa are members of the FSCA or regulatory authority in another country. This provides peace of mind that the forex broker understands the rules and regulations governing the forex industry and is likely to abide by the Code of Conduct of the regulatory authority.

 

Any forex broker you consider trading through should be transparent with regard to whether the company is a registered member of the FSCA or an overseas regulatory authority. If they are not, this raises a red flag over the company’s standing in the forex industry.

 

Regulation Requirements of forex brokers in South Africa

The FSCA requires a forex broker to have a local presence in South Africa. This involves having a local office and at least one director residing in South Africa.

 

The following is also required by the FSCA of regulated forex brokers:

➡️️​ Professional indemnity insurance

➡️️​ Client funds are segregated from their own operating funds

➡️️​ audited on a regular basis to ensure client funds are not misused

➡️️​ have an ODP license

 

What is an ODP license?

The Over-the-counter Derivative Provider (ODP) license is part of a new regulatory regime for South African forex brokers that the FSCA is in the process of evaluating and implementing.

 

To obtain an ODP license, forex brokers will be required to conduct due diligence on their clients before they can trade high-risk products such as forex.

 

The new licensing regime will also introduce stricter capital adequacy requirements as well as require access to all transaction details including instrument type, underlying asset, price, leverage used, and the investor’s name and country of residence.

 

The aim of the ODP license is to ensure forex brokers treat all clients fairly and do not engage in unprincipled or illegal activity.

 

Currently, the FSCA requires all its members to have a physical presence in the country and to provide continuous access to all transaction data to the FSCA. This will be enforced more keenly through the new ODP licensing.

 

How can you protect yourself from being scammed by a dodgy forex broker?

Forex trading is the largest and most liquid market in the world. Approximately US$6 trillion is traded daily on the global market. With this amount of money being traded online every day of the week, the forex market is wide open to scam artists.

 

Forex brokers have been accused of running everything from pyramid schemes to Ponzi schemes. Believe us when we say, there have been many variants of these schemes that warrant a bad reputation. However, these crimes are being stamped out through more stringent regulations, both locally and overseas.

 

✅ Tip #1

It’s strongly recommended that you only use a forex broker that is regulated by the FSCA or can prove the company is regulated by an authority in another country. The regulatory credentials should be clearly stated on its website and the company needs to be totally transparent on its membership status.

 

✅ Tip #2

The best way to avoid falling victim of a forex broker scam is to trade over a secured platform that only regulated brokers can provide their clients.

MetaTrader is the most popular trading platform in the world. There are two versions: MetaTrader 4 (MT4) and MetaTrader 5 (MT5). Nine out of 10 forex brokers offer MT4 because it is easy to use, reliable and fully functional.

 

✅ Tip #3

Check the forex broker’s membership status with the FSCA. You can do this by reading broker reviews online or through the FSCA itself.

 

✅ Tip #4

Check whether there has been any legal action taken against the company. You’ll pick this up online on sites that publish complaints and bad reviews on companies.

 

✅ Tip #5

Check if there is a physical address for a local office for the broker. The FSCA requires a registered member to have a local presence which means having a permanent office in the country and at least one director of the company residing in South Africa.

 

✅ Tip #6

Educate yourself on the forex trading market so you maintain full control of your money. Find out what forex scams are in the market, how legitimate forex trading works and which forex brokers are honest and reliable. The more you know about forex trading, the less likely the chances are of falling victim to a scam.

 

✅ Tip #7

Don’t believe false promises of quick profits and no financial risks. The forex market is high leverage and inherently high risk. More people lose money on the forex market than they make profits. If something sounds too good to be true, the chances are it’s a scam.

 

FTA DISCLAIMER

Trading foreign exchange on margin carries a high level of risk and may not be suitable for all investors. Forex trading is a highly leveraged product that increases the risk associated with forex trading. Carefully consider your appetite for risk and trade forex with due care and caution.

 

FSCA Regulated Non-Bank Brokers: Derivative and forex instruments

Trading as	FSP Name	FSP No	Status
Alpari International	Exinity Limited	50320	Authorized ✔️
AvaTrade	Ava Capital Markets (Pty) Ltd	45984	Authorized ✔️
DMA	SCM DMA (Pty) Ltd	40983	Authorized ✔️
Easy Equities	First World Trade (Pty) Ltd	22588	Authorized ✔️
ExCentral	OM Bridge SA	48296	Authorized ✔️
Exness	Vlerizo (Pty) Ltd	51024	Authorized ✔️
FXCM	FXCM SA (Pty) Ltd	46534	Authorized ✔️
FXTM	ForexTime Limited	46614	Authorized ✔️
GT247	Purple Group	46315	Authorized ✔️
HotForex	HF Markets Limited	46632	Authorized ✔️
IG Markets	IG Markets SA Limited	41393	Authorized ✔️
Infinox	Infinox Capital (Pty) Ltd	50506	Authorized ✔️
Markets.com	TradeTech Markets SA (Pty) Ltd	46860	Authorized ✔️
Pepperstone	Pepperstone Group Limited	49497	Processing ⌛
Plus500	Plus500 AU (Pty) Ltd	47546	Authorized ✔️
QuickTrade	QuickTrade (Pty) Ltd	45262	Authorized ✔️
Scope Markets	Scope Markets SA (Pty) Ltd	47025	Authorized ✔️
ThinkMarkets	TF Global Markets SA (Pty) Ltd	49835	Authorized ✔️
Tickmill	Tickmill (Oracle) SA Limited	49464	Authorized ✔️
Trade Nation	Trade Nation Financial (Pty) Ltd	49846	Authorized ✔️
Velocity Trade	Velocity Trade Financial Services (Pty) Ltd	43295	Authorized ✔️

 

Frequently asked questions

 

Who are the best FSCA-regulated forex brokers in South Africa?

FXCM
FXPRO
IGMarkets
FXTM
Avatrade

 

What is the role of the FSCA?

The FSCA is highly regarded as a competent regulatory authority in South Africa. The FSCA is a relatively newly-established governing body, although it has its roots in the old Financial Services Board (FSB).

 

Is forex trading legal in South Africa?

Forex trading is legal in South Africa, as long as traders and brokers abide by the financial laws of the country.

 

Can forex brokers in South Africa be trusted?

There are several forex brokers in South Africa that have a proven track record for honesty, integrity, and fair trading.

 

What is an ODP license?

The Over-the-counter Derivative Provider (ODP) license is part of a new regulatory regime for South African forex brokers that the FSCA is in the process of evaluating and implementing.