The FSP search covers authorised and applied providers

Finding a row for the firm is not the same as finding an authorisation, because a firm that has only applied can also appear. The Status column is the field that answers the question. Source: https://www2.fsca.co.za/Fais/Search_FSP.htm

FSP licences are granted by category and listed activity

It tells you whether the service a firm is offering you is inside its licence. A firm holding only CAT I is authorised to advise and to act as intermediary, not to manage your money on a discretionary mandate. Source: https://www2.fsca.co.za/Regulatory%20Frameworks/Documents/Published%20list%20of%20Authorised%20CASPs_18%20December%202024.pdf

Three years to lodge a complaint with the FAIS Ombud

The clock starts when you first should have realised something was wrong, not when you gave up on the firm, so a long internal dispute can use up the window. Source: https://www.faisombud.co.za/how-to-complain/pre-requisites/

FAIS Ombud claims are limited to R3 500 000

If your loss is larger than R3 500 000, this route costs you the difference unless the firm consents, which is worth knowing before you choose between the ombud and a court. Source: https://www.faisombud.co.za/how-to-complain/pre-requisites/

The FSCA does not resolve individual client disputes

If your money is with a licensed firm and something goes wrong, the recovery route is the relevant ombud, not the regulator. The FSCA still wants to hear about conduct and contraventions, and it uses ombud reports and complaints data in its supervision. Source: https://www2.fsca.co.za/Documents/FSCA%20Regulatory%20Strategy%202025-2028.pdf

Individuals must be verified by ID number on the register

If the person advising you is the point at issue rather than the company, the name search is not the field to rely on, and the call centre is the published route for confirming an entry that does not match what a firm has told you. Source: https://www2.fsca.co.za/Fais/Search_FSP.htm

Give the firm six weeks first, and court closes this route

Two things follow for a trader: complain to the broker in writing and keep the dated proof, and do not start litigation on the same facts if you want the ombud to look at it. Source: https://www.faisombud.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Complaint-Registration-Form-Updated-May-2026.pdf

Prudential oversight of funds moves to the Prudential Authority

It tells you which authority to approach on which question during the transition, and confirms that an FSCA conduct licence and prudential supervision are two separate assessments. Source: https://www2.fsca.co.za/Documents/FSCA%20Regulatory%20Strategy%202025-2028.pdf

Crypto firms need an FSP licence and fit and proper approval

A South African crypto or contract for difference platform that trades on trust alone can now be checked: it should hold an FSP number and appear on the FSP register with the categories that match what it offers you. Source: https://www2.fsca.co.za/Documents/FSCA%20Regulatory%20Strategy%202025-2028.pdf

Offshore

FSCAFinancial Sector Conduct Authority

The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) is South Africa's market conduct regulator, established on 1 April 2018 under the Financial Sector Regulation Act. An FSCA licence under the FAIS Act is granted by category (CAT I, CAT II, CAT IIA, CAT III) and lists the exact activities a firm may perform, and any firm can be checked in about a minute on the FSP register by FSP number or partial name. Two facts matter most before you deposit: the FSCA states that it is not mandated to resolve individual complaints, and the ombud that does handle advice and intermediary disputes, the FAIS Ombud, has a claim limit of R3 500 000 and a three year window from when you became aware of the problem.

About Financial Sector Conduct Authority

The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) is a dedicated market conduct regulator for South Africa, responsible for regulating the conduct of financial institutions and ensuring that the financial sector operates fairly, efficiently, and transparently.

The FSCA was created as an authority established by the Financial Sector Regulation Act (FSR Act) and is part of South Africa's Twin Peaks regulatory framework. The FSCA has the power to regulate financial institutions that offer financial products and services subject to sector-specific legislation, including banks, insurers, retirement funds, administrators, and market infrastructures.

Vision And Mission Statements

About and how to use Financial Sector Conduct Authority

How to verify a licence

Open the FSCA FSP search at https://www2.fsca.co.za/Fais/Search_FSP.htm. Enter the FSP number using only the last digits (the page gives the example that for 26/10/1234 you enter 1234), or do a partial search on the firm's name, or search by postal code. The results table returns FSP No, FSP Name, Trading Name, Status, Rep, KI, KI of Rep, Sole Prop and Products, and an authorised firm shows Authorized in the Status column. The same search tool is titled 'Search Authorised and Applied FSPs', so a firm that has only applied can appear in your results: read the Status column, not just the presence of a row. To check the individual adviser rather than the company, the page states that information about persons on the list must be verified by searching on the person ID number. The same register is reachable from the FSCA site as 'Check if a firm is authorised' at https://www.fsca.co.za/Entity-Persons-Search/?iframe_target=financial-services-providers. If an entry does not match what a firm told you, the FSCA call centre number published on the search page is 0800 20 37 22.

How to complain

Complain to the firm first. The FAIS Ombud complaint form states that you have to approach the party you are aggrieved with and give them six weeks to resolve the matter before that Office can help. If it is unresolved, lodge the complaint with the Office of the Ombud for Financial Services Providers (FAIS Ombud) using the complaint form at https://www.faisombud.co.za, by email to info@faisombud.co.za or by post to PO Box 41, Menlyn Park, 0063. The deadline is three years from when you became aware, or ought to have become aware, of the act or omission complained of. The claim limit is R3 500 000, and above that you must abandon the excess in writing or the respondent must consent. If you have already instituted court proceedings on the same subject matter, the FAIS Ombud will not investigate. The FSCA itself takes complaints about how a regulated firm conducts itself and about contraventions of the laws it administers, but it states that it does not resolve individual disputes.

Jurisdiction and scope

The licence is a South African market conduct authorisation. The FSCA regulates the conduct of banks, insurers and microinsurers, financial services providers, section 13B administrators, crypto asset service providers, cooperative financial institutions and banks, collective investment schemes (securities, property, participation bonds, hedge funds and foreign schemes), retirement funds, credit rating agencies, exchanges, central securities depositories, associated clearing houses, over the counter derivative providers and friendly societies. Crypto assets were declared a financial product in 2022 under the FAIS Act, which is why crypto firms hold FSP numbers. Under the FSR Act transitional arrangements, prudential regulation and supervision of retirement funds, collective investment schemes and friendly societies moves to the Prudential Authority by 31 March 2026, with medical schemes by 31 March 2027, while the FSCA keeps conduct regulation. The FSCA also states that payment services, services related to credit and debt collection, and services related to foreign exchange are to be brought under its conduct framework as the relevant licensing provisions take effect.

What is protected

Redress under this regime runs through the ombud system rather than a payout fund. The FSCA states that it is not mandated to resolve individual complaints or disputes between consumers and financial institutions, and that consumer complaints fall to the financial ombud services or other designated dispute resolution bodies. For financial advice and intermediary services that is the FAIS Ombud, whose determinations are capped by a monetary jurisdictional limit of R3 500 000 per claim. None of the FSCA or FAIS Ombud documents read in this run set out a statutory investor compensation fund that pays clients when a licensed firm fails, and the client money and segregation rules sit in the General Code of Conduct, which was not in the corpus for this reading.

Using this regulator

Ask the firm for its FSP number and check it yourself on the FSP search, then compare the Status column and the licence categories against what the firm sells you. A CAT I entry authorises advice and intermediary services; investment management on your behalf needs CAT II, and administrative services needs CAT III, so a discretionary mandate offered by a CAT I only firm is outside that licence. Check the register close to the date you fund an account: the FSCA suspended 1 061 FSP licences in 2023/24, so a screenshot from months earlier proves little. Keep written proof of your complaint to the firm and the date you first realised there was a problem, because both the six week internal period and the three year deadline are measured from those points. If your claim is above R3 500 000, decide early whether you will abandon the excess to stay inside the FAIS Ombud's limit or pursue the matter in court, since going to court closes the ombud route.

Good to know

Fee amounts for an FSCA licence could not be quoted. The FSCA Determination of Fees PDF at https://www2.fsca.co.za/Notices/Determination_of_Fees.pdf is a scanned image with no extractable text, and the FSCA levies and fees sections on https://www.fsca.co.za/Regulated-Entities/ load their content dynamically, so no figure was readable this run. The FAIS Ombud levies proposal (Annexure A to C) was downloaded by the harness but its text was not available in this reading, so no levy amount is stated. The General Code of Conduct for Authorised Financial Services Providers and Representatives and the FAIS Act itself were not in the corpus, so client money, segregation and any leverage or margin rules were not read. The FSCA Regulatory Actions Report of 30 June 2025 was present only as far as its contents pages, and the FSCA annual report text was not available, so the enforcement figures quoted here come from the Regulatory Strategy 2025 to 2028 instead. Seven linked documents could not be downloaded (three fscamymoney research PDFs timed out, three IFWG position papers closed the connection, and one FSCA manual URL contained a space). The consumer facing 'Check if a firm is authorised' page embeds the search from a separate application host, so its body text was not quotable and the quotations for the register come from the FSCA FSP search page at www2.fsca.co.za.

Key insights and tips

Check an FSP by number or partial name on the register

Key

A trader can confirm in about a minute whether the FSP number on a broker's website belongs to that firm, and can search by name when the number given is wrong or missing.

The FSCA FSP search accepts an FSP number, a partial firm name, a postal code or a person ID number. The page states that only the last digits of the FSP number are entered, giving the example that for 26/10/1234 you enter 1234.

To search for a specific FSP you can either type in the FSP number or do a partial search on the FSP name.

Quoted in Search Authorised and Applied FSPsRead the source

Please enter either the FSP number,partial name or postal code in the boxes below (only the last digits ex. 26/10/1234, only enter 1234)

Quoted in Search Authorised and Applied FSPsRead the source

public register
license verification

Official documents examined

GuidancePrivacy Statement
Version November 2022Fetched Aug 31, 2026View source
Official documentPersonal Information Request
Fetched Aug 31, 2026View source
Fee scheduleNotice regarding the publication of budget and estimates of expenditure, and levies proposal
Version 12 September 2025Fetched Aug 31, 2026View source
Official documentAnnexure A - C

Licensed Brokers

Brokers authorized and regulated by this authority

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About this information

The details on this page about Financial Sector Conduct Authority were compiled from the regulator’s own official documents, its website and other public sources, and are presented as neutral, factual guidance.

If you believe something here is inaccurate, or you spot a critical problem, please let us know via Contact us.

FSCAFinancial Sector Conduct Authority

About Financial Sector Conduct Authority

Vision And Mission Statements