Reason for this visit

The South African financial market is said to be the most developed and organized financial market in Africa. It is composed of major institutions such as Standard Bank, Barclays Africa Group (ABSA), First National Bank (FNB), FirstRand, Nedbank and Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). It is the largest stock market in Africa, with transaction volume amounting to R23.7 billion. The potential for retail foreign exchange in South Africa is emerging. The local financial ecosystem in South Africa is often compared to developed economies such as the US, UK, Australia, etc. On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, investors can trade shares and commodities and invest in futures and options.The South African Rand is the most traded currency in Africa in terms of daily trading volume and is one of the 20 most traded currencies in the world. The rand (ZAR) is traded outside of South Africa more than the local foreign exchange market – in 2017 it was about $60 billion overseas, compared to about $21.4 billion domestically over the same period. An estimated 190,000 foreign exchange investors in South Africa regularly trade or invest in foreign exchange and related instruments. According to data from trading analytics firm CPattern in 2019, South African traders have the most average monthly deposits in Africa at $740 per trader. In order to give investors a real understanding of the current situation of the South African foreign exchange dealers, the survey team is going to South Africa for field surveys.

On-site visit

This time the survey team went to South Africa to visit the foreign exchange dealer FWT Markets as planned, and the survey address is 26 BAKER STREET ROSEBANK JOHANNESBURG 2196.

The survey personnel came to the dealer's exhibition address according to the address on the regulatory information. The office of FWT Markets is located in the office park on Baker Street, South Africa. The parks are full of 3-storey low-rise buildings, all of which are used as shared offices. The environment is clean. It is a professional office park.

The survey personnel came to the building based on the trader's exhibition address. There was a security guard on duty in the lobby, who said that there was no FWT Markets office in the building. There was also no FWT Markets name on the water sign in the lobby. The survey personnel wanted to go upstairs to conduct the survey but were rejected by the security guard. He said that they needed to be accompanied by company employees in the building for a visit.

The investigators searched everywhere but could not find any information about the trader. They confirmed that the trader FWT Markets does not have an office here.

Conclusion

The investigators went to South Africa to visit the foreign exchange dealer FWT Markets as planned, but did not find the dealer's office at its publicly displayed business address. The dealer may have just registered a company at this address without real business premises. Investors are advised to choose this dealer carefully.

Disclaimer

The content is for informational purpose only, and shall not be taken as final order for making choice.