Capital.com FSCA approval gave the broker two South African licences this week, days after Axi confirmed a dealer licence in Mauritius. The moves show how brokers are adding new regulatory bases to reach retail clients in emerging markets. Both firms already hold several major licences elsewhere. However, the new approvals target markets those existing entities do not serve directly.
Capital.com received authorisation from South Africa’s FSCA as an Over-the-Counter Derivatives Provider and a Category 1 Financial Services Provider. That combination lets a market-maker onboard South African clients and offer CFDs across more than 5,000 markets, including crypto CFDs. The company also recently won authorisation from Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority. Additionally, it named Travis Robson as South Africa CEO.
Capital.com FSCA Approval Adds Local Access
The South African move adds a local route for Capital.com. The source said the broker already operates regulated entities under the FCA, CySEC, ASIC, the Bahamas, the UAE CMA and the Bermuda Monetary Authority. Even so, those licences do not allow it to serve South Africa from abroad.
Axi chose a different path. Axi Markets Mauritius received a Category SEC-2.1B Investment Dealer licence on May 14, and the firm announced it on June 17. Its existing regulatory stack includes ASIC, FMA New Zealand, the FCA, a DFSA Category 4 licence in the DIFC and CySEC in Cyprus. However, the Mauritius entity gives Axi a regulated base between Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
Axi Uses Mauritius as Regional Hub
The article said a Mauritius licence is not a local-market permission. Instead, it offers banking and payment access that an offshore registration in St Vincent does not provide. As a result, one entity can reach several markets from a single base. The source added that Deriv (Mauritius) and Edgewater Markets took the same route within the year.
The article also said the two brokers are using different structures for the same goal. Capital.com is adding local licences market by market, while Axi is using one offshore hub to serve a wider region. Meanwhile, the source noted that South Africa’s FSCA requires both Category 1 and ODP approval for a firm that faces its own clients, citing the Globex360 penalty.
The source said neither model guarantees success. It pointed to AETOS, which wound down its offshore CFD operation under its Mauritius entity and stopped onboarding after surrendering its UK FCA licence and dissolving its UK company.
You can access our other news on brokers and global market developments here.
