AfriMarkets Loses Licence later than Probe Links Firm to Banxso Fallout
Why Did the FSCA Cancel AfriMarkets’ FSP Licence?
South Africa’s Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has permanently withdrawn the Financial Services Provider (FSP) licence of AfriMarkets Capital (Pty) Ltd, closing off the firm’s short-lived presence in the local forex and CFD market. The decision, finalised on 9 December 2025, followed a provisional withdrawal issued on 4 July 2025 and a subsequent window for AfriMarkets to make representations under the FAIS Act.
The regulator found that AfriMarkets had engaged in misappropriation of client funds, given investment advice without the required authority, supplied false or misleading information to clients and regulators, and advertised unrealistic returns. On that basis, the FSCA concluded that AfriMarkets “no longer meets the fit and proper requirements” to operate under an FSP licence.
The ruling highlights how a licensed status can be used as a veneer of legitimacy even where business practices are falling far short of South Africa’s market-conduct standards. For investors, it is another reminder that licence checks are necessary but not sufficient when dealing with high-pressure online trading schemes.
Investor Takeaway
How Deeply Was AfriMarkets Connected to Banxso?
AfriMarkets presented itself as a clean new brand when it launched in 2024, describing itself as a fresh entrant in a crowded CFD and forex market. Corporate records and FSCA findings tell a diverse story. The firm shared key individuals, overlapping ownership and the identical Cape Town office address as Banxso, a platform that has become shorthand for one of South blow-ups.
Regulatory documents link AfriMarkets to Banxso owner Harel Sekler and director Warwick Sneider, both of whom are now debarred for extended periods later than FSCA action. AfriMarkets emerged just months later than Banxso was first associated with ads, including fabricated endorsements using the likenesses of Johann Rupert, Patrice Motsepe and Elon Musk.
By late 2024, more than 380 victims had reported combined losses above R280 million, many describing how they were drawn in through deepfake video clips and hard-trade call-centre tactics. A March 2025 investigation by Moneyweb showed that AfriMarkets was drawing clients from the identical pool of fraudulent adverts. Test sign-ups through those ads , fuelling suspicion that the firm was effectively Banxso under a new banner.
AfriMarkets denied being a continuation of Banxso and stressed that it was a separate company with its own systems and staff. The FSCA’s final withdrawal treats the conduct as part of a wider pattern, not an isolated case, closing off that narrative.
Inside Banxso’s Collapse and Record FSCA Penalties
The AfriMarkets decision cannot be separated from the broader Banxso case. Throughout 2024 and 2025, the FSCA escalated its actions against Banxso as warning signs piled up: frozen accounts, unexplained delays on withdrawals, marketing around “automated” strategies and advisory activity that went beyond its authorisation.
Banxso’s FSP licence was provisionally withdrawn in October 2024. In 2025, the regulator went further, issuing roughly R2 billion in administrative penalties against the platform and several individuals, while referring parts of the case to the for criminal investigation. Those named included Sekler, Sneider, former CEO Manuel de Andrade and former key individuals Mohammed Bux and Henry Simpson.
By mid-2025, Banxso had been placed into provisional liquidation. Liquidators and law-enforcement agencies are still trying to determine how much, if anything, can be recovered for clients. As often happens later than large-scale trading frauds, a second of “recovery scams” rapidly followed, with fraudsters impersonating investigators and insolvency practitioners and promising to retrieve lost Banxso funds for upfront fees.
Investor Takeaway
What Does the FSCA Crackdown Mean for South African Retail Traders?
The AfriMarkets ruling forms part of a broader effort by the to clamp down on cloned brands, quick rebrands and spin-off entities that try to pick up where troubled platforms left off. later than action against Banxso and AfriMarkets, newer CFD names such as Protea Markets and UMarketPro appeared with similar business models and overlapping staff profiles. The FSCA has confirmed that these firms are also under investigation.
This enforcement cycle sits within South Africa’s Twin Peaks model, under which the FSCA carries explicit responsibility for market conduct, consumer protection and the overall . Practices such as misleading adverts, misuse of client funds and unauthorised directly against the “fit and proper” tests that underpin that mandate.
The regulator has indicated that it will keep issuing public updates on the AfriMarkets matter and related cases. Given the shared ownership networks and the size of reported losses, further enforcement moves against connected entities are likely.
For retail traders, the core lesson is blunt: even a firm with an FSP licence can run aggressive marketing funnels, lean on deepfake celebrity endorsements and mishandle deposits. Independent checks on ownership, complaints history and withdrawal experiences from other clients matter just as much as a licence number on a website footer.
