South Africa launches voluntary register of FX Global Code commitments

The South African Reserve Bank and South African Foreign Exchange Committee have opened a public register for institutions that voluntarily publish a statement of commitment to the FX Global Code. Announced on 9 October, the register is intended mainly for wholesale foreign-exchange participants in South Africa, while allowing eligible firms elsewhere to request inclusion. It is a new disclosure channel for a market where many crucial execution practices sit outside publicly visible price quotes.[1]

The register is designed to connect to the Global Index of Public Registers so counterparties can find statements in a single place. Those statements signal an organisation’s commitment to the Code’s principles on ethics, governance, execution, information sharing, risk management and confirmation and settlement. They are not a licensing regime, do not replace a firm’s applicable legal obligations and do not prove that all of its behaviour complies with the principles.[1]

SARB expressly warns that submissions are voluntary and listing does not imply endorsement, validation, supervision or oversight by the central bank. That qualification matters for broker websites and introducing intermediaries: a public statement should never be repackaged as a special SARB authorisation or a guarantee of best execution.[1]

What a published commitment establishes

For wholesale FX counterparties, the register offers a place to find a firm's Statement of Commitment and check which entity signed it and when. Firms outside South Africa can request inclusion if their statements follow the standard FX Global Code format. The disclosure can support a conduct review, but is not itself an audit of the signatory's execution practices.[1]

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