Are you looking for FSCA (currently known as FSB) regulated Forex brokers in South Africa?
As you probably know there are countless Forex scams and unscrupulous brokers in the market. And if you are not careful, you may end up risking handing over your hard-earned money to unethical brokers before you even begin trading!
Over here, I will be covering what FSCA is about, how it protects you, why international brokers may be a better choice – and finally, I will also be giving you the list of my most trusted Forex brokers.
Read: Forex Trading South Africa
Overview of FSCA
Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) is a South African financial agency established in 2018 as a direct replacement for the dissolved Financial Services Board. It is the only regulator for all financial activities in South Africa.
FSCA replaced FSB as the sole financial regulatory body in South Africa due to favoritism, alleged overcharging of legal services, and inability to prevent fraud.
FSCA was established to improve the integrity of the financial market in South Africa while protecting you as an investor from every form of financial crime.
Regulated broker firms by FSCA are to follow all laid down prerequisites to be regarded as a legal outlet for brokerage in the country. The FSCA provides financial education to you as a potential investor, as well as aiding financial stability.
How Does FSCA Protect South African Traders?
Before any firm can be recognized as a certified brokerage company in South Africa, it must have met with the conditions set by FSCA. These conditions are created to ensure a fair and stable financial market with your protection in mind.
Unlike FSB, the FSCA has a more significant and proactive role in investigating any financial irregularities. Within the FSCA there is a separate division of which will be in-charged with this crucial responsibility.
With The Financial Sector Regulation Act, the FSCA can now take action against uncertified firms by debarring them — unlike when it was just an enforcement division of its predecessor, the FSB.
FSCA makes findings of breaches and punishes those who break the rules, such as market manipulation and spreading misinformation. The agency also performs physical visits to firms to conduct investigation and compliance reviews and audits.
DUTIES OF FSCA
The duties of the Financial Sector Conduct Authority is defined in the Financial Sector Regulation Act, No. 9 of 2017 (FSRA). These functions are as follows:
- The body ensures the formulation of financial education for you as an investor.
- Ensure the collection of fines and its proper allocation.
- The body ensures you are well treated by financial institutions.
- It also ensures the integrity and stability of the financial market.
- The body maintains financial stability.
- It also conducts research on relevant issues.
- The body ensures financial products and services are available to the masses.
- The body also ensures the regulation of the conduct of financial institutions.
CUSTOMER COMPLAINTS
You can make complaints on any discrepancy by filing the complaint form on the FSCA website. The body through its Investigations and Enforcement divisions will see into cases of contraventions of the market laws in accordance to the Financial Sector Regulation act.
The division in collaboration with the Supervision divisions will see into the complaints and related matter to ascertain the need for enforcement action.
The division will then implement the rules and regulations following the FSCA protocols which may include fines or other penalties as the case warrant.
Protect Yourself With Regulated International Brokers
FSCA, as stated in the previous sections, will take up complaint cases against any broker firms and punish any companies who are violating any financial rules.
However, the FSCA may not always be quick to attend to every misconduct by brokers. This is why there are many fraudulent domestic forex brokers in South Africa.
Hence, you may be better of trading with international brokers as they are better regulated by countries with robust regulatory framework and surveillance that are often missing in FSCA.
Not sure which international Forex broker to begin with? No worries, in the section below, I will feature 5 of the best Forex brokers you can trust.
TRUSTED INTERNATIONAL FOREX BROKERS
PLUS 500
Plus 500 is an international broker listed in the London stock exchange. It was established in 2008 in Israel by six alumni of Israel Institute of Technology.
It is licensed by several international financial bodies such as the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
What will you gain by trading with Plus 500?
- Free withdrawals and deposits
- Low CFD fees
- Great account opening
- Demo account
- An impressive choice of tradable assets
- You have access to customer support 24/7 via live chat or email
Read: Plus500 Review
IG
IG is one of the world’s biggest CFD brokers. It is one of the first foreign brokers to get FSCA regulation (FSP 41393).
Established in 1974, IG boasts of offices around five continents with over 195,000 investors globally.
What can IG offer you?
- Your forex trades are leveraged as high as 50:1
- Spreads start from 0.8 pips
- IG will offer you educational resources to increase your trading knowledge
- You can access over 80 currency pairs.
- It also offers 24/7 customer services
- Flexible forex trading
- IG offers a standard conversion rate of 0.5%.
- Offers protection for U.K.& E.U. client accounts
Read: IG Trading Review
VANTAGE FX
Vantage FX is the front running international Broker in Australia established in 2009. The firm gives access to the Forex market, cryptocurrencies and other digital businesses.
VANTAGE FX has the objective of assisting you as an investor to reach your financial aim through great trading platforms and fantastic customer services.
Vantage FX has the following to offer you:
- An attractive set of promotions
- Fantastic customer service
- Leverage up to 500:1
- Demo account available
- Raw ECN spreads from 0.0
Read: VantageFX Review
HOT FOREX
HotForex is a MetaTrader-only broker established in 2008. It provides a market-maker avenue to trade across a mixed account offering where commissions and rates vary.
Their good customer-based services have earned notable awards globally.
Extra features:
- Free educational contents from experts
- Flexible Leverage up to 1:1000
- Free and secure account funding
Read: Hot Forex Review
XM
XM is a forex broker company established in Cyprus, in 2009. It provides its services to over 196 countries across the globe. It is a group of online brokers regulated by CySEC with the registration number 120/10.
The company is known for its attention to customer’s needs which has gone a long way in convincing the public to trust them for trading.
XM offers four varieties of accounts namely micro, standard, zero, and ultra-low and offers a minimum of 5$ as deposit making it suitable for you as a beginner with low capital to transact with.
What can XM offer you?
- Easy opening of account
- Tight spreads are available
- Over 55 different currency pairs available
- Leverage as low as 1:30
- Earning with referrals
- Good bonus system
- Free withdrawal and deposits
Read: XM Review
Conclusion
The journey to becoming a Forex trader is almost impossible without the right broker to trade with. You should trade with licensed brokerage firms to safeguard your investment.
There are probably several fraudulent broker firms out there eyeing to swindle you, and I would advise you to check whether they are licensed and regulated before you make a deposit.
You may also pick one of the 5 brokers I listed above, and among them – I’d recommend Plus500 since they provide some of the best benefits and perks you can get.
