Top 5 FSCA Forex Brokers in 2024


Searching for reliable Forex brokers to trade in South Africa region? Search no further – you’ll find the complete list of the top 5 FSCA Forex brokers in this article.

The Forex market is the world’s largest trading market, where nearly $5 trillion traded daily. It is a legitimate trading market where the world’s currencies are traded.

While Forex is not a scam in itself, there are many scam Forex brokers in the market. Before we show you the top five FSCA Forex brokers, let’s first understand what FSCA is and why you should choose FSCA regulated Forex brokers.

What is FSCA?

The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) was formed in 1990 as the sole regulator for all financial services and related activities in South Africa. One of its main goals is to protect the citizens of South Africa from fraud and financial crimes.

The objective of the FSCA is to improve the integrity and operations of financial markets, and encourage just client treatment by all types of financial institutions. It also offers financial education and aids in maintaining financial stability. Brokers regulated by FSCA must follow all of the conditions and meet all the requirements, in order to be a highly-regarded brokerage company.

While it is completely legal for South African Forex traders to trade with brokers that are not regulated by the FSCA, a lot of them prefer to deal with brokers that are regulated by their local regulatory body.

Why should you trade with FSCA regulated Forex brokers?

The Financial Sector Conduct Authority is the sole supervisory body for all financial services and associated activities in South Africa. One of its foremost objectives is to defend South African investors from deception and financial crimes.

FSCA regulated Forex brokers have the purpose of recuperating the veracity and procedures of financial marketplaces and promote fair customer dealing with all types of financial organizations. It also presents financial education and assists in sustaining financial strength.

Getting this licensed by the FSCA is considered the main benefit for Forex brokers that want to infiltrate the South African market. This is due to the fact that FSCA Forex brokers in 2021 can supply protection and consultation to the local traders.

Top 5 FSCA Forex brokers in 2021

We have listed below the top 5 FCA Forex brokers in 2021 for traders in South Africa:

  • Markets.com
  • IronFX
  • Avatrade
  • Plus500
  • FBS

1# Markets.com

Markets.com

image source: Markets.com

Markets.com is a online Forex Broker that provides individuals and businesses with a platform to trade foreign currencies. The company is regulated by multiple regulatory authorities  Markets.com offers a variety of features and tools to help traders make the most of their trading experience. These include a demo account, which allows users to practice trading before committing any real money, as well as a variety of educational resources to help users learn about the foreign exchange market. In addition, Markets.com offers customer support 24 hours a day, five days a week. All of these features make Markets.com an ideal choice for those looking to start trading in the foreign currency market.

SafeCap Investments Limited operates Markets.com and is a Cyprus company. The company is multi licensed by 6 financial institutions, namely:

  • The Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC)
  • The Financial Sector Conduct Authority in South Africa (FSCA)
  • The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), which sets the main framework for all other EU regulators
  • The Financial Conduct Authority in the UK (FCA)
  • The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)
  • The Financial Services Commission in the British Virgin Islands (FSC)

Markets.com pros

  • Well-regulated broker with many top-tier regulatory bodies
  • Very strong international presence with multiple offices globally
  • Best fund protection
  • Low fees
  • Won multiple awards
  • Proprietory Platform along with MT4 and MT5.

Markets.com Cons

  • Commodities and indices fees higher than Forex costs
  • They do not offer VPS

2# IronFX

FSCA Forex Brokers in 2021

IronFX is an award-winning online Forex broker that offers STP/ECN services to retail and institutional investors with rapid trade execution speeds and competitive costs.

This broker has more than 200 tradable assets that allow you to diversify investments across the major platforms used worldwide and from multiple navigation devices for secure investing. IronFX also offers South African Forex traders a wide variety of account types to choose from, spreads as low as 0.0 pips, and support in over 30 languages.

IronFX pros

  • Strict regulation
  • Good offer of CFDs
  • Award-winning trading platforms
  • Welcome bonus
  • Compensation fund
  • Customer service

IronFX cons

  • No US client
  • Scarce educational resources on their website

3# AvaTrade

Top 5 FSCA Forex Brokers 2021

Founded in 2006, AvaTrade is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. Notably, AvaTrade is a fully regulated broker with a presence in South Africa, Europe, the Middle East, the British Virgin Islands, Australia, and Japan.

This brokerage offers 250+ instruments in stocks, commodities, indexes, forex, CFDs, and cryptos as they help traders diversify their portfolio and in turn mitigate the risk involved.

AvaTrade carries a wide range of educational tools in a webpage designed for education. It provides educational content for beginners, focusing on online trading forex, CFD, along with technical analysis. It also provides information on order types and economic indicators that impact the Forex market.

AvaTrade pros

  • Strict regulation
  • Easy and fast account opening
  • Free deposit and withdrawal options
  • Great research tools
  • Support available in 14 languages

AvaTrade cons

  • High inactivity fees
  • Offers only CFDs, forex, and cryptos
  • Does not accept US clients

4# Plus500

FSCA Regulated Forex Brokers in 2021

Plus500 is a CFD provider that was established in 2008 and now they have more than 320,000 active customers. This broker offers CFD trading on forex, commodities, cryptocurrencies, and indices, etc.

Plus500 is a licensed CFD provider accepting South African Forex traders, and they are also listed on the London Stock Exchange. Plus500 is the main sponsor of football club Atlético Madrid and is regulated by multiple top-tier regulators, which makes them a reliable CFD platform.

In South Africa, Plus500 has a financial services license from FSCA under the company name “Plus500AU Pty Ltd” since 07/02/2017.

Plus500 pros

  • Multi-regulated
  • More than 2,500+ CFDs to trade on
  • Commission-free trading
  • Simple to use proprietary trading platform
  • 24/7 multilingual customer support

Plus500 cons

  • No phone support
  •  Education section is limited

5# FBS

FSCA Regulated Forex Brokers

FBS was founded in 2009 as an international broker that serves clients from over 190 countries and shows its excellence by numerous prestigious awards and cutting-edge technologies on the Forex Market.

This brokerage firm brings transparent conditions for trading using popular instruments including Forex, Metals all connected by split-second execution through the ECN model. The website has numerous educational materials and programs organized to enhance your trading capabilities.

To provide the best customer experience FBS organizes seminars and special events. FBS offers its clients training materials, cutting-edge trading technologies, and the latest strategies on the Forex market.

FBS pros

  • Regulated
  • FBS CopyTrade is available
  • Commission-free trading available
  • ECN accounts available
  • Luxurious Bonus and Promotions
  • Won more than 40 awards

FBS cons

  • Very high spread on Cent account
  •  Limited number of tradable assets
  • No service to clients from USA, UK, Canada, Japan, Israel

What should you do if you have a complaint against an FSCA Forex broker?

All FSCA Forex brokers are required by the watchdog to have a sound complaint resolution department that should look into all consumer complaints. In the event of a consumer getting an unfair deal, the next logical step would be to contact the FSCA. Ultimately, if that fails, the last resort would be to take the matter to the court.

However, most top rated FSCA regulated Forex brokers usually tend to resolve consumer complaints in an effective manner, which is why the South African watchdog is effective against fraudulent activities. Brokers affiliated with the FSCA stand to lose their regulation or licensing if the firm is found to be in violation of the rules stipulated by the FSCA. The FCA also has the authority to seek hefty fines in penalties and refuse to provide licenses to such companies from operating in the UK.

How to avoid scams & find reliable Forex brokers

FSCA regulation is indeed a good indicator of the reliability of a broker, and it is essential for all South African consumers as well as traders from around the world to choose a broker that is regulated by an efficient regulatory body such as the FSCA.

However, there are instances where brokers or other types of financial companies attract clients by advertising false claims of being regulated by the FSCA by using bogus license numbers and misleading links.

What can you do if you wish to ascertain the authenticity of a regulation?

How to verify FSCA Forex brokers authorization?

To identify if a forex broker is authorized by the FSCA, the first step is to identify the Financial Service Provider (FSP) registration number from the disclosure text at the bottom of the broker's homepage. For example, here's the key disclosure text from HotForex’s website,

"HF Markets SA (PTY) Ltd is authorized and regulated as a Financial Service Provider (FSP) from the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) in South Africa, under the licence number 46632.

FSCA is an independent institution established by statute to oversee the South African non-banking financial services industry. It regulates the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), the largest exchange in the African continent."

Next, look up the FSP number on the financial register available on the FSCA’s website to validate that the broker is currently authorized in South Africa.

Take away

If you are a South African investor who wants to make your Forex trading venture profitable then it is safe to go for any of the top 5 FSCA Forex brokers as they are regulated. Regulated brokers provide you with many benefits and the right conditions necessary to trade successfully. All the best in finding the right broker!