How this site's figures are produced

The live tables on this site come from public registers, read on a fixed schedule. This page explains which record answers which question, how often it is read, and what a reader should not conclude from a row.

Which record answers which question

For crypto asset service providers, the record is the Financial Sector Conduct Authority's register of authorised financial services providers, filtered to those licensed for crypto-asset services. For exchange control, there is no single public register; the rules are set by the South African Reserve Bank's Financial Surveillance department and administered by authorised dealers, usually banks. For tax compliance status, the authority is the South African Revenue Service. Each question has its own record, and checking the wrong one gives no answer.

A licence category on the FSCA register says what a firm may do: advice, intermediary services, or discretionary management. A row in the table records what the source published on the date it was read. It is not a finding by this site that the firm is safe, solvent or suitable for a reader's purpose. The reader must still read the firm's own disclosures and decide.

The weekly read of the FSCA records

The FSCA register is read once a week. The table on the licensed-providers page shows the name exactly as the source wrote it, the date the source published it, the licence category, and a link to the original entry on the FSCA's own site. A firm not found in the table is not shown by that fact to be unlicensed, because search results depend on the exact name. A reader who cannot find a firm should try the legal name, the trading name, and the FSP number if they have it.

This site does not rate or rank any firm. The order of rows, the presence or absence of a row, and the wording of a column are artefacts of the source register, not editorial judgement. The weekly read means the table can lag behind a change in the register; the link to the original entry lets a reader see the current record.

How a licence category limits what a firm may do

The licence category shown is the category the register gives. A firm may do only what its categories allow. A category for advice does not allow discretionary management; a category for intermediary services does not allow the firm to hold client money. When an offer says 'we trade for you', the reader should look for a discretionary licence category, not just any FSP number.

A category is not a promise of profit, and it does not make the underlying asset safe. The FSCA regulates the service provider, not the price of crypto. A licensed provider can still offer a volatile product, and a reader can still lose money. The licence is one fact among several, not a seal of approval.

What exchange control information is included and why it points to official sources

This site describes exchange control in general terms: allowances for sending money abroad exist, tax-compliance status is required for larger amounts, and the Reserve Bank's Financial Surveillance department is the authority. It does not publish allowance amounts, because those change and because a reader's own circumstances affect what applies. Instead, the text points to the authoritative sources: the South African Reserve Bank and the reader's authorised dealer, which is usually the bank.

Exchange control is not a matter of a public register that this site can read. The bank checks the reader's status at the time of the transaction and can require a tax compliance status PIN from SARS. Descriptions here are general; they cannot substitute for the bank's own process. The reader should confirm the current rules with the bank before sending money offshore.