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Financial regulations are one of the most important aspects of a good Forex broker. The regulator makes sure that the broker is not doing anything shady and also gives guarantees to traders that no matter what happens they will be able to compensate for their defrauded funds. This is why we pay so much attention to regulation in our reviews, in most cases a lack of regulation is so serious that a broker can immediately be branded as a scam, but in some cases, a strong and popular parent-corporation is enough to cover all of the questions.
Nearly every country has a Financial regulator installed by the state, but there are a few exceptions where they are lacking. Most notably, financial regulators are few and far between on the African continent, but some stand out very easily. South Africa Forex regulation is one of the best examples of a shining light among an under-developed financial sector. It is a perfect example for its neighboring countries and a beacon of regulatory frameworks. Let’s find out what makes the FSCA (Financial Services Conduct Authority) stand out from the crowd.
Defining features of the FSCA
the FSCA, formerly known as the FSB is the state governed Financial regulation of South Africa, which is directly responsible to regulate, govern and keep an eye on most financial companies. These companies include but are not limited to Forex brokers, Insurers, capital markets, financial service providers, collective investment schemes, retirement funds, credit agents and many more. Every company that is remotely dedicated to these industries will be susceptible to FSCA regulations.
However, we need to discuss what defines the FSCA as the top-dog within Financial regulators? is it because they’re strict? No, every regulator is strict. It’s because they provide more value to financial companies’ customers than any other regulator. Where most regulators focus on keeping an eye on the financial companies themselves, the FSCA is also concerned with the financial education of the customers and is offering them some free courses on their platform.
These types of innovations have not yet been seen on any other regulator, and it is understandable. The financial education of a customer is either the responsibility of the customer themselves, or the host company. But it never hurts to have some free knowledge, does it?
The FSCA is quite broad
One of South Africa’s defining traits is the way their financial institutions are able to co-operate. For example in most European and offshore states, the Financial Regulator and the National Bank seldom have a good relationship. But the FSCA and the SARB (South African Reserve Bank) are able to co-operate without too many controversies. Their recent cooperation was seen when discussing possible regulations for cryptocurrencies in South Africa, which is becoming more and more of a topic of concern. Especially after the results of a recent survey showed that South Africa is the largest crypto holding nation in terms of population percentage.
However, the most defining traits of the FSCA is their ability to intervene in a dispute between a Forex broker and a customer, where quality investigations are held and the “winner” of the dispute is found. This is a great benefit for the customer because in some cases Forex brokers can simply ignore the dispute, but the regulator’s pressure they simply can’t afford to.
As already mentioned, the FSCA is responsible that only the most trustworthy companies are regulated under its jurisdiction, so as to prevent any fraudulent companies to scam the local populace. However, if there is a mistake and a regulated company does indeed turn out to be a scam, the regulator takes all of the responsibility to compensate for the loss.
How to use the FSCA
There are various ways you can utilize the services of the FSCA, but only 1 of them stands out the most for Forex traders. The ability to check the validity of a Forex broker in South Africa. Meaning that you can access the regulator’s databases and check whether or not the company is regulated by them. In some cases, the company may be listed, but not hold the license anymore, so it is always good to double-check with the regulator to make sure you’re not walking into a trap.
The FSCA has actually just gone through a massive change of operations. Exactly a year ago, on April 1st the regulator changed its name from FSB to FSCA and also re-worked its staff. Although not much has changed, here are the main points.
- The FSCA is responsible for giving investors financial education.
- Constant overview of the KPIs and the development of South Africa’s financial sector.
- Legal assistance for investors in case of company fraud, and fining any violation from said companies.
- Spreading information about potential changes with regulated companies.
