The FSCA is South Africa's market-conduct regulator for financial services. The FAIS Act requires anyone giving "advice" or an "intermediary service" on a financial product to be licensed as a Financial Services Provider (FSP). A pure comparison publisher that gives no personal recommendation and acts for no client sits outside FAIS licensing.
What is the FSCA?
The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) is South Africa's dedicated market-conduct regulator for the non-banking financial sector. It supervises how financial firms treat their customers, authorises and oversees Financial Services Providers, maintains the public register of licensed firms, and enforces the conduct standards that apply to forex and CFD brokers operating in or into South Africa.
For a South African trader, the FSCA is the body whose register decides whether a broker is genuinely licensed locally. An FSCA licence number (an FSP number) is the single most checkable trust signal there is — but only when you confirm the specific legal entity that will hold your account on the FSCA's own register. RandBroker treats the FSCA register as the source of truth and surfaces each broker's FSP licence as a verifiable badge.
What does the FAIS Act regulate?
The Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act 37 of 2002 (FAIS) is the law that requires a licence to provide either "advice" or an "intermediary service" on a financial product. These two defined activities are the hinge of the whole regime. Under section 1, "advice" means any recommendation, guidance or proposal of a financial nature furnished to a client in respect of the purchase of or investment in a financial product.
An "intermediary service" is, broadly, any act other than the furnishing of advice that a person performs for or on behalf of a client or a product supplier — for example, acting to conclude a transaction on a reader's behalf. If you do either of these things in relation to a financial product, FAIS requires you to be an authorised FSP. The definitions are deliberately wide, which is exactly why the line between informing and advising matters so much.
- "Advice" = a recommendation, guidance or proposal of a financial nature to a client about buying or investing in a financial product.
- "Intermediary service" = an act (other than advice) performed for or on behalf of a client or product supplier, such as helping conclude a transaction.
- Doing either, in relation to a financial product, triggers FAIS FSP licensing.
- Enforcement is real: unlicensed intermediary services carry penalties of up to R10 million and/or 10 years.
Why does a no-advice comparison publisher sit outside FAIS?
RandBroker publishes general comparison and information and refers leads to brokers. We do not furnish any personal recommendation or guidance to an individual reader, and we do not act for or on behalf of any reader to conclude a transaction. Because we do neither "advice" nor an "intermediary service" as FAIS defines them, a pure no-advice comparison publisher does not trigger FAIS FSP licensing.
The line is sharp and we respect it deliberately. Editorialised information — explaining what an ODP licence is, listing which brokers hold which FSCA authorisations, comparing platforms — is fine. A personal recommendation to you specifically ("you should open this account"), or acting on your behalf to transact, would cross into advice or an intermediary service. That is why you will never see RandBroker tell a reader what to trade or which single broker to choose for their situation.
What protection does an FSCA licence actually give you?
An FSCA authorisation means a broker's South African entity is supervised under the conduct framework and is subject to obligations around fair treatment of customers, disclosure and complaints handling. It is a meaningful signal — but it is not a guarantee against loss, and the strength of protection depends on which licence the entity holds and which entity actually serves you. A FAIS (FSP) licence alone does not, for instance, authorise a firm to write CFDs onshore as principal; that requires a separate ODP licence.
Always confirm the exact entity named in your client agreement against the FSCA register, and check what its authorisation actually covers. A broker can advertise a head-office licence while routing your account to an offshore entity with weaker protection. RandBroker's licence facts are corroborated across each broker's own disclosure plus credible secondary sources, pending a final live FSCA-register confirmation — so always do the 30-second register check yourself before you deposit.
Frequently asked questions
What does the FSCA regulate in South Africa?
The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) is South Africa's market-conduct regulator for the non-banking financial sector. It authorises and supervises Financial Services Providers, maintains the public register of licensed firms, and enforces the conduct standards that apply to forex and CFD brokers.
What is the FAIS Act?
The Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act 37 of 2002 (FAIS) requires anyone who provides "advice" or an "intermediary service" on a financial product to be licensed by the FSCA as a Financial Services Provider. Its section 1 definitions of those two activities set the boundary of who needs a licence.
Is a forex comparison website regulated under FAIS?
A pure comparison publisher that furnishes no personal recommendation and acts for no client does not provide "advice" or an "intermediary service" as FAIS defines them, so it does not trigger FAIS FSP licensing. The moment a site gives a reader a personal recommendation or acts on their behalf to transact, it crosses the line.
Does RandBroker give financial advice?
No. RandBroker compares brokers and publishes general information only. We give no financial advice and make no personal recommendation, and we never tell a reader what to trade or which single broker to choose for their circumstances. The decision, and any advice you need, is yours.
Does an FSCA licence guarantee my money is safe?
No. An FSCA licence means a broker's South African entity is supervised under the conduct framework, which is a meaningful trust signal — but it is not a guarantee against loss. Protection depends on which licence the entity holds and which entity actually serves you. Always verify the exact entity on the FSCA register.
Sources & further reading
RandBroker is an independent EU-based publisher comparing FSCA-regulated forex and CFD brokers for South African traders. Our editorial desk verifies every licence on the FSCA register and never accepts payment for a better review. We compare and inform; we do not give financial advice.