FSP Registration In South Africa

What is FSP?

A Financial Service Provider (FSP is a regulated financial institution that is licensed and supervised by the Reserve Bank. 

FSP Registration In South Africa

Before you start

When you apply, you’ll need to have already gathered the necessary information about yourself and your business.

You should also have decided how you wish to run your business and, if a financial adviser, considered your options for engagement by a financial advice provider (FAP).

Fees for registering

You’ll need to pay the following fees when registering as an individual FSP:

  • an application fee of R300 (plus GST)
  • an FMA levy of R600 (plus GST)
  • R35 (plus GST) to cover the cost of your criminal history check, unless you’ve undergone a successful check within the last 36 months.

Applying to register

Before you can apply to register online, you’ll first need to have:

  • a RealMe® login
  • an online services account with the FSPR.

Note

Applications expire 30 working days after they’ve been started. You can ‘Save and Exit’ your application at any stage by selecting this option at the bottom of the page. You can then complete your application at a later time or discard it, from the ’Applications saved or under review’ area of your dashboard.

Individuals applying to register as an FSP should then follow these steps:

  1. Log in to your online services account.
  2. Select ‘Register FSP (Individual)’ from the dashboard.
  3. Complete your application, entering the required details, which include:
    • previous FSP numbers (if any)
    • any trading names used
    • other names you’ve been known by (maiden name or aliases)
    • confirmation that you expect to meet the required minimum threshold
    • whether or not you are a reporting entity under the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009
    • the month you’ll file your annual confirmation
    • your business and contact addresses
    • the financial services you’ll be providing
  4. On the ‘Declaration’ tab, confirm that you are either the person named or have been authorised by the applicant; and that you have read and understood the declaration.
  5. Select the ‘Review’ tab to check the information you’ve entered.
  6. Confirm that the information you have provided is true and accurate.
  7. Click on ‘Submit’.
  8. On the payment screen choose the payment option and ‘process payment’ to complete your application.

How many FSPs are there in South Africa?

The total number of FSPs in all four licence categories was 11 156, compared to 11 283, which the FSCA attributed to licence withdrawals and lapses.

The report shows there were 10 157 authorised Category I and IV FSPs at the end of the 2022 financial year.