FSCA ODP authorisation, run as a single project
If your business deals in OTC derivatives as principal in South Africa, you need authorisation from the FSCA under section 6(8) of the Financial Markets Act.
It is not a form. It is a demonstration that your business is genuinely capable of operating as an ODP — capital, governance, risk, compliance, technology, reporting.
Most applicants are not banks. They are CFD brokers, offshore groups with a South African entity, proprietary trading firms and fintechs — and the process is built around a standard most of them have not met before.
ODP Gateway is not a consultancy. We're the front door. We connect you with an established specialist practice that handles ODP authorisation end to end — regulatory strategy, capital modelling, risk, compliance and reporting readiness — so you deal with one team instead of assembling five.
Not sure whether you need authorisation? Check whether the rules apply to you →
What the FSCA asks for
Here is the real list, from the FSCA's application index. The published index is written for bank applicants; a non-bank applicant faces a comparable but not identical schedule.
A three-year plan showing available capital, expected income and expenses, projected profits and losses, and liquid assets for each year. Annual quantification of potential business losses for an orderly wind-up. A stress-test and scenario-analysis methodology. Working capital projections — three years detailed, five years less so. Cash-flow projections. Break-even analysis covering both profit and cash flow. Proof of an irrevocable line of credit where applicable. A capital raising plan. Every assumption behind every number.
That is one section of eight.
The others cover fit and proper, human resources and competency, risk management and internal control, compliance, business continuity, operational detail including valuation methodology, and trade reporting readiness.
Do you need authorisation?
Under the Financial Markets Act Regulations, 2018, you are an OTC derivative provider if — as a regular feature of your business, and transacting as principal — you originate, issue or sell OTC derivatives, or make a market in them.
Three things must be true together: it is a regular feature of your business, you transact as principal, and you originate, issue, sell or make a market in the instrument. Occasional hedging is not a regular feature of your business. Passing every client order to a third party who takes the other side is not transacting as principal.
Two things are excluded from the definition of an OTC derivative entirely: foreign exchange spot contracts and physically-settled commodity derivatives.
Regulation 2 provides that a person may not act as an OTC derivative provider, or advertise or hold itself out as one, unless authorised by the Authority.
How we work
We connect you. The specialist practice delivers. Your contract is with them, and so is the accountability — one engagement instead of five, with a practice that has done this before.
An ODP application draws on regulatory strategy, corporate governance, risk framework design, capital and financial modelling, compliance, technology and reporting readiness, and legal documentation. Those pieces have to fit together, because the FSCA reads the submission as one document.
ODP Gateway is paid a fee based on the engagement by the practice. It does not change what the work costs you.
Getting started
Tell us what your business does and we'll connect you with the people who can tell you whether ODP authorisation applies to you — and what it would take.
If you don't need us, we'll say so.
There is no charge for the introduction.
The capital framework is under review
If you are a non-bank applicant, this one is aimed at you. In Communication 4 of 2026, the FSCA announced a discussion document on strengthening capital requirements for non-bank ODPs. Conduct Standard 1 of 2018 sets the baseline minimum today; the Authority is developing a more granular framework, proportional to each ODP's activities.
This is a consultation, not a change in the rules — applications are assessed against the standard in force. But it tells you the direction of travel, and a capital model built without regard to it is a model you may be rebuilding.
ODP Gateway
FSCA ODP authorisation, run as a single project. We connect you with the specialist practice that prepares the application.