#sa forex admin

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Most of the admin I write about here is paperwork you do once. This one is different — it is a setting on the account that quietly changes what holding a position costs you.

Normally, keeping a position open overnight triggers a swap: an interest-based charge, or occasionally a credit. If you close everything before the day rolls over you never see it. Hold something for a week and it becomes a line item you did not plan for.

A swap-free account removes that overnight charge. The origin of it is faith-based — Islamic finance principles prohibit riba, interest — and swap-free versions of both the Standard and Pro accounts exist for that reason. But the practical effect is broader than that. Anyone running swing or position trades over several days is paying swaps they may not have budgeted for.

Two things worth checking before you treat it as free money. Depending on the account and the instrument, swap-free may be applied automatically or may need to be requested — so confirm which applies to yours rather than assuming. And some brokers attach administration fees or conditions to swap-free accounts, so read the current terms rather than an article about them.

The obvious point that still needs saying: removing swaps removes swaps. Spreads, commissions and market risk are all still there. It changes one line of the cost, not the cost.

Full write-up here: Exness Swap-Free (Islamic) Accounts in South Africa

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Small admin habit that has saved me twice now: every withdrawal goes back to the same bank account I funded from, and nowhere else.

The reason is not superstition. Brokers generally return money along the route it came in — card deposits back to the card, EFT back to the bank account. If you try to pull funds out to a different account, the request tends to sit in review while somebody checks that the name matches. That is a fair check, but it turns a same-day withdrawal into a three-day one, and it always seems to happen in the week you actually need the money.

The second reason is the paper trail. When the deposit and the withdrawal sit on the same bank statement, the story of the money is obvious to anyone who asks later — your bank, SARS, or future you. Split it across three accounts and you are the one who has to reconstruct it.

So the routine is: fund from the FNB account, withdraw to the FNB account, save the confirmation PDF into the folder for that month. Two minutes, no thinking required.

I wrote the longer version of how withdrawals work from here: Exness withdrawals in South Africa.

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Most guides for new traders in South Africa talk about spreads, leverage and platforms. In practice, the thing that delays people for weeks is paperwork. Here is the admin side, in plain terms.

FICA verification comes before your first withdrawal, not after

Any regulated intermediary dealing with a South African client has to verify identity under FICA. The usual set is a green bar-coded ID book or a smart ID card, plus proof of residential address that is normally not older than three months. A municipal bill, a bank statement or a signed lease generally works. A screenshot of an app usually does not.

Do this at account opening. The common mistake is funding an account, trading for a month, then hitting a verification wall at the exact moment you want your money out.

Know which of the two exchange control allowances you are using

South African residents have two separate annual limits, and they are not the same thing.

The Single Discretionary Allowance is available to residents aged 18 and over, per calendar year. It covers travel, gifts, offshore investment and similar transfers, and it does not require a tax clearance step. The South African Reserve Bank raised it during 2026: it now sits at R2 million per calendar year, up from R1 million, with the under-18 figure moving from R200 000 to R400 000.

The Foreign Capital Allowance sits on top of that, up to R10 million per calendar year, and that one does require a SARS Tax Compliance Status PIN.

For almost every retail trader the SDA on its own is far more than enough, and the 2026 increase means fewer people need to go near the R10 million route at all. Check the current SARB Currency and Exchanges guidelines before moving a large amount, because these figures do change.

SARS: keep your own records from day one

Trading profits are taxable. Whether a particular result is treated as normal income or as a capital gain depends on your own circumstances, so that is a question for a registered tax practitioner rather than a forum thread.

What is not in dispute is the record keeping. Keep your own log of deposits, withdrawals and the rand value at the time of each conversion. Broker statements are often denominated in dollars and are not always still available years later.

A sensible order of operations

Confirm which entity you are actually contracting with, and look up its FSP or ODP number on the FSCA register yourself. Complete FICA. Then fund a small amount and test a withdrawal back to your own South African bank account before you commit real size. The withdrawal path, not the deposit path, is where the friction shows up.

None of this is exciting, but it is the part that decides whether your money moves smoothly.

Disclaimer: this is general information for readers in South Africa, not financial, tax or legal advice. Rules and limits change. Verify current requirements with the FSCA, SARB and SARS, or with a registered professional, before acting.