Cape Town – The Financial Services Board issued a warning to the public on Thursday afternoon to exercise caution when deciding whether to invest with three unregistered institutions it says are masquerading as registered financial service providers.
The regulator urged the public to run background checks with any company approaching them to provide financial services.
The FSB said a company called Destidex Investments was trading as StockTraders, and claimed to be associated to Johannesburg-based financial advisors Emperor Asset Management as well as Hollard Insurance.
Both Emperor, a registered financial services provider, and Hollard told the FSB they has no association with StockTraders whatsoever.
The FSB also urged caution when dealing with Blue Granite Investments, which was a trading vehicle for Fair Finance, Daily Finance SA and Capital Loans. The board said none of the businesses were registered financial service providers.
The businesses trading through Blue Capital Investments claimed to be registered under the registration number of Simon Mnyandu. However, the FSB said, Mnyandu’s registration number was withdrawn six years ago, in 2012.
Lastly, the board clarified that Services You Need & Tracing Services were not registered. The FSB said through this business Pretoria-based Samantha Langeveldt/Jonker was offering to process claims of pension and provident fund surpluses.
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