South Africa

The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) is the independent statutory market conduct regulator in South Africa and operates as a stand-alone pillar in the country’s “Twin Peaks” regulatory system. The FSCA is mandated to take the place of the old Financial Services Board (FSB) to ensure market integrity and consumer protection in all parts of the non-banking financial sector, which includes investment businesses, retirement funds, insurers, and market infrastructure, as well as in the conduct of retail banking. With membership in international bodies such as IOSCO, the FSCA oversees the licensing of Financial Service Providers (FSPs), regulates the customer treatment by financial institutions, and actively polices the markets to eliminate fraudulent activities, insider dealings, and unauthorized digital asset operations via hefty administrative penalties.

The FSCA achieves its legislative role through proactive regulation, supervision, and enforcement of the market conduct of all financial institutions to ensure fair dealings with customers and the overall integrity of the financial market. The regulator actively regulates the full life cycle of financial services providers (FSPs), insurers, investment managers, and retirement funds through evaluation and licensing of operations, comprehensive on-site compliance audits, and the regulatory registers of public verifications. Leveraging the substantial legislative powers provided to it through the Financial Sector Regulation Act (FSRA), the FSCA actively probes and prosecutes any case of market manipulation, insider trading, and financial operations that have not been approved. The regulatory agency has the capacity to impose substantial administrative penalties, license revocation, and even long-term debarments on executives for their malpractice. In addition to this, the FSCA is spearheading the implementation of a principles-based Conduct of Financial Institutions (COFI) Bill to set compliance standards for risky digital asset spaces and provide public enforcement notices against investment frauds and illegal schemes.