South Africa and Forex Traders

South Africa does not count to countries where Forex trading is mainstream, at least not yet, but the interest into the lucrative market grows by each day.
The financial sector of South Africa is one of the most liberalized, and if compared to other African countries, it is the most advanced on the continent. The country has a lot of potential to become a leading global power in the Forex market.
We can see many companies with, for example, CySEC licenses operating in South Africa, as well as many others. Many open branch offices for the more and more interested South African citizens.

The Financial Service Board of South Africa

The Financial Service Board (FSB) is to South Africa what the FCA is to Great Britain. It is the official regulator of the non-bank financial sector that managed to reduce the number of scammers in the industry. South Africa does not underlie strict policies like the western European countries, but nevertheless, the FSB tries to maintain law and order in the non-bank financial sector.
Seated in Pretoria, they act as a customer complaint service where traders can go to if they want to report illegal activities, negligence, and misconduct of the financial companies. The FSB has the authority to impose administrative sanctions and various fees on the “wrong-doers.”
The problem South African citizens face, is that the government limits offshore investments. The amount they are limited to is around $500. If citizens want to trade internationally, they need to submit a tax clearance record and sometimes their profit on investment stays offshore.

How to Trade With Forex in South Africa

Even though the regulation policy seems in place, it is still an environment where many scammers operate. As a trader, you should check with authorities on the broker’s history to make sure you avoid registering with one of the crooked companies.
There is no reason to lose hop. Fraud is present everywhere, and if you carefully pick your broker you should be able to trade in South Africa as safe as in London.

The Best Forex Brokers in South Africa

Once you have overcome the major hurdle of finding one or a few brokers with a clean record that are well-regulated and respect the market rules, you are free to choose the broker with the very best offers.
Top South African brokers make an effort to provide the same conditions to their traders as any western European broker. Since many European brokers opened offices in South Africa, it represented a good model for domestic companies to enter the business.
Top South African Forex brokers offer multiple features that come with your account, bonuses, promotions, good trading platforms, etc.

The Trading Platform

Thanks to the global exposure of the business, people from round the world can trade under the same conditions. South Africans, therefore, also have the platforms at their disposal just as if they lived in one of the European countries.
The South African brokers also offer a variety of platforms. Some opt for multiple platforms, while others stick to one universal platform.
The customers appreciate when a platform is well organized and easy to use and when the registration process is clear and short.
The platforms are either downloadable or web-based online platforms. They are usually accompanied by mobile apps for mobile trading, which has become the favorite form of trading lately.

Best Forex Brokers in South Africa: Account Types

A minimum of three accounts is usually offered to traders:

• Demo account for beginners to practice (comes with a small fee or free of charge)
• Medium/Standard/middle account is for experienced traders and requires a minimum deposit (determined by each broker individually)
• VIP/Premium/Gold accounts are reserved for the most experienced players who pay a high deposit to use this account and its benefits

Leverages and Spreads

It is important to know that narrow spreads are the safest spreads. Trading currency pairs with narrow spreads is preferred given that risk of loss is minimized.
The best Forex brokers in South Africa will include plenty of pairs with narrow spreads. These pairs are known as major currency pairs.
In addition to major, minor and exotic currency pairs will be available to traders. Moreover, the ZAR (South-African Rand) is ranked as an exotic currency in the world.
Leverage is one of the indicators of liquidity. The best brokers will offer leverage from 1:200 to 1:100 (or even more) to generate the profits. Always bear in mind that leverage can be as harmful as beneficial: it can generate your profits but also account for loss of money that is not even yours.
Some Forex broker companies charge commissions for their services, while others just charge the spread difference.
Even if most of the people prefer free of charge brokers, it is not an indicator that the broker who includes a fee is to be disregarded. A fee or not, it does not affect the quality of the broker (both of them can be equally good or bad).

South African Forex Brokers & Customer Support

Only a broker that cares about its clients is a good broker. This means that the top brokers will maintain an efficient customer support service to keep their clients informed and satisfied.
Every broker will offer a customer support system, but you need a team with the following qualities:

• Available 24/7 (when I say available, I mean that they reply quickly and do not let you wait for days)
• Fats reply system (you will get an answer immediately or in a couple of hours)
• Multilingualism (this is important to you if you come from another country)
• Competence (the staff knows what to do when a problem arises)
• Politeness (they treat you with respect and patiently provide detailed explanations)

Some of the European brokers introduced live video chat to the customer support system, and customers can actually see whom they are talking to. This is important because customer support staff is sometimes loose, exactly because they remain anonymous to the client. Live video chat prevents employees from hiding behind anonymity and exposes them to clients.
It is just a matter of time when this trend reaches South Africa as well.

Conclusion: Stick to Top South African Forex Brokers

The South African market, even if somewhat limited, still provides a decent environment for Forex traders.
South Africa is open to European countries who actively participate in the South African market by opening branch offices and obtaining certificates by the FSB.
To wrap up the above said, let us go quickly through the main points:

a.) choose a registered broker,
b.) make sure that you feel comfortable with the platform,
c.) do not skip practicing on the Demo account ,
d.) stick to trading narrow-spread currency pairs,
e.) test the Customer Support (before you register).

These are some of the basic guidelines you should follow to find your right Forex broker in South Africa.

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