The Financial Sector Conduct Authority has issued several public warnings about individuals and entities engaging in unauthorised financial services activities. These warnings serve as a reminder for the public to exercise extreme caution when considering financial services offers that may appear suspicious or unverified.
Johannes Lodewicus du Plessis and JLD Investments
The FSCA has alerted the public to Johannes Lodewicus du Plessis and his entity, JLD Investments CC. Du Plessis allegedly promised unrealistic returns of up to 36% a year, while misrepresenting himself as a broker for Sanlam Private Wealth.
Sanlam has confirmed that Du Plessis is not authorised to represent the company in any capacity.
The FSCA said both Du Plessis and JLD Investments are not registered as financial services providers (FSPs), and the Authority is investigating these allegations to determine whether Du Plessis and his business have violated any financial sector laws.
“The investigation is not completed, and the FSCA has made no findings yet. This public warning should not be construed as a communication of the findings of the FSCA,” the Authority stated.
Caution against Investin Gain Trading
Investin Gain Trading is not licensed under any financial sector law to provide financial products or financial services in South Africa, the FSCA says.
The Authority said Investin Gain Trading’s website (https://investin-gain.com) claims the entity is authorised to provide financial services for contracts for difference in forex, crypto assets, indices, stocks, energy, and commodities.
“Without commenting on the business of Investin Gain Trading, the FSCA points out that offering financial products and services in South Africa requires its authorisation. Investin Gain Trading is not so authorised and is not licensed in terms of any financial sector law,” the statement said.
“Investin Gain Trading has not responded to our efforts to get more information.”
“Financial services business” refers to persons advising the public on investing their funds in any manner. This is often in the form of offering the public investment opportunities.
To avoid becoming a victim of a scam, the public should not accept any financial advice, assistance or investment offers from persons who are not authorised by the FSCA to conduct financial services.
Authorised financial services providers must display the fact that they are authorised on their documentation. South Africans loses millions of rands every year to fraudsters. Illegal operations are sometimes well-disguised as legitimate operations.
Check before you invest
The FSCA says members of the public should always check the following:
- That an entity or individual is authorised by the FSCA to provide financial products and services, including for providing recommendations about how to invest.
- The category of advice the person is registered to provide, because there are instances where companies or people are registered to provide basic advice for a low-risk product but advice on far more complex and risky products.
- That the FSP number used by the entity or individual offering financial services matches the name of the FSP on the FSCA’s database.
You can check whether an entity or person is authorised to provide financial products and services by:
- Phoning 0800 110 443 (toll-free)
- Conducting an online search for an authorised financial institution by licence category: https://www.fsca.co.za/Regulated%20Entities/Pages/List-Regulated-Entities-Persons.aspx
- Conducting an online search for a financial institution that is an authorised FSP: https://www.fsca.co.za/Fais/Search_FSP.htm
Thanks again but there must be a new way to teach the people of South Africa. Road shows or the FSP’s in all Provinces to get down in up skill people.
The process to report dodgy people must be made easier. Currently it’s a bit of an issue to report a potential fraudster