Reason for this visit

South Africa's financial market is said to be the most developed and organized financial market in Africa, consisting of large institutions such as Standard Bank, Barclays Africa Group (ABSA), First National Bank (FNB), FirstRand, Nedbank and the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).  And JSE is the largest stock market in Africa with a daily trading volume of R23.7 billion. As a result, the potential for retail FX in South Africa is emerging.

The local financial ecosystem in South Africa is often compared to developed economies such as the US, UK and Australia. On the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, investors can trade stocks of African companies, commodities and invest in futures and options on major international and continental currencies.

In terms of daily trading volume, the South African Rand is the most traded currency in Africa and one of the 20 most traded currencies in the world. The Rand (ZAR) is traded outside of South Africa in excess of the local foreign exchange market. Data showed that the Rand's overseas trading volume was about $60 billion in 2017, while domestic trading volume was about $21.4 billion during the same period.

It is estimated that around 190,000 FX investors in South Africa regularly trade or invest in foreign exchange and related instruments. According to 2019 data from trading analytics firm CPattern, South African traders have the highest average monthly deposit in Africa at $740/trader. To help investors or practitioners have a more comprehensive understanding of the forex dealer in South Africa, the survey team went to the country for field visits.

Office Building

This time the survey team visited the dealer Ukuchuma in South Africa, with the specific address at 1 HOOD AVENUE ROSEBANK JOHANNESBURG Gauteng.  

On-site visit

According to the address on the regulatory information, the surveyors arrived at the destination of this survey. Ukuchumas' office was located in the office park on Hood Street in South Africa. The buildings in the park all looked similar, all used for shared offices. The environment there was clean and it was a professional office park in general.

Entering the building, a security guard was on duty and told the surveyors that there was no Ukuchuma office in the building. Also, there was no name of Ukuchuma on the directory in the lobby. The surveyors wanted to go upstairs but was refused by the security guard, who said they needed to be accompanied by company employees in the building.

Later, the surveyors searched the entire campus but could not find any information about the dealer. Therefore, the surveyors confirmed that Ukuchuma did not have an office here.

Conclusion

The survey team went to South Africa, to visit the the dealer Ukuchuma and found no office at its business address. It was supposed that the dealer might just use that address to register its company, or there was no offline exhibition place. Please be prudent when trading with this broker.

Disclaimer

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