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South Africa begins issuing crypto licenses with Luno and Zignaly among the first beneficiaries
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South Africa has started licensing crypto companies, and Luno and Zignaly are among the first group of companies to receive regulatory approval.
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The country’s regulators have said about 60 companies are expected to receive approval by April.
South Africa’s financial regulator has begun issuing crypto licenses, with exchange platform Luno and decentralized social investment marketplace Zignaly among the first group of companies to receive approvals.
Luno said it had received approval as a financial services provider under the country’s Financial Advice and Intermediary Services Act (FAIS) 2002. Luno PTY LTD now appears on the FSCA Register of Authorized Entities.
Zignaly told CoinDesk that it had received a Category 2 – Discretionary Financial Services Provider (FSP) license and was listed on the FSCA register under the name Merritt Administrators PTY LTD.
The South African regulator began accepting license applications from crypto companies in June 2023 after passing legislation to bring crypto into the scope of regulated financial activities in the country. The FSCA has promised heavy fines for businesses that attempt to operate without obtaining proper approvals.
Around sixty companies should be approved by the regulator in the short term.
“This is a positive step for both the cryptocurrency industry and South Africans. Compliance, safety and security of our customers have been the driving force of our growth from the beginning and will continue to be priorities as we expand our offering to introduce more features and products for financial institutions,” said said Christo de Wit, Luno Country Manager for South Africa. the statement.
Zignaly’s Category 2 license will allow the company to conduct discretionary fund management, “where Zignaly is authorized to make investment decisions on behalf of investors and, very importantly, can act as a custodian of funds for its customers,” the company said in a press release. “It’s essentially a full asset management license, comparable to what TradFi giants like Blackrock or Vanguard have.”
Zignaly says the license will also help it “anticipate the likely extension” of regulations to decentralized finance. In 2022, the the company signed a $50 million financing deal with a Luxembourg fund.
UPDATE (April 11, 12:05 UTC): Adds that Zignaly received a license for title and body.