South Africa: Implementation of order classifying crypto assets as financial products

On 19 October 2022, the General Notice 1350 of 2022 on "Declaration of crypto assets as a financial product under the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Act" issued by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) was published in South Africa's Government Gazette and entered into force. The published document declares crypto assets as a financial product under crypto asset as a financial product under the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services Act. The Declaration defines crypto assets as the digital representation of a value that could be transferred, traded or held electronically, that was not issued by a national central bank and uses distributed ledger technology and cryptographic techniques. Following the implementation of the Declaration, providers of any services relating to crypto assets are required to obtain an authorisation from FSCA and to obtain the status of a financial services provider to continue offering crypto assets or services facilitating their trade. In case of non-compliance, providers face a fine of ZAR 10 million.