How to check your name on the FSCA register: a step-by-step guide for brokers and representatives

Contents

1. Why your name is on a register at all
2. Step by step: checking your name
3. Which search answers which question
4. When the result is not what you expected
5. Checking a whole team, not one name
6. Messages that make the check routine
7. Frequently asked questions

To check your name on the FSCA register, go to the FSCA website, open FAIS Verifications, choose the Financial Services Provider search and use the field that searches per person with your South African ID number. If you hold the licence yourself, search instead by the FSP number or part of the provider's name. The result shows the provider record the register links to you; if your name is missing or wrong, the fix goes through the FSP that appointed you, not through the search page.

This guide is for representatives who want to confirm their own appointment, and for key individuals and compliance officers who check a whole team. It covers where the search sits now that the FSCA site has been rebuilt, what each field expects, what the related searches are for, and what to do when the result is not what you expected.

Why your name is on a register at all

Section 13(3) of the FAIS Act requires every authorised financial services provider to keep a register of its representatives and of the key individuals of those representatives, regularly updated and available to the Authority. Section 13(4) says what it holds: each person's name and business address, whether the representative acts as an employee or under a mandate, and the categories in which the person is competent to render financial services. Section 13(5) lets the FSCA require that information so it can keep a central register of all representatives and key individuals, which must be published.

So there are two registers. The FSP's own register is the source; the FSCA's public record is built from what FSPs submit. When the public search does not show you, the cause is almost always upstream: an appointment that was never submitted, a submission rejected for a data error, or an entry closed when you moved between providers. Who counts as a representative in the first place is covered in our guide to the FAIS representative definition and the register.

Step by step: checking your name

1. Start from the FSCA's own site. Type the address fsca.co.za yourself rather than following a link from a message or an advert. The FAIS Verifications page groups the public searches: Financial Services Provider, Compliance Officer, Debarred Persons, the list of approved nominee companies, and the FAIS Export.
2. Open the Financial Services Provider search. The FSCA labels it a legacy search that is being updated, so the layout may change; the fields below are those of the form published in October 2026. You can also reach it from the "Check if a firm is authorised" link on the regulated entities pages.
3. Search per person with your ID number. The form has four fields: FSP number, FSP name (a partial name works), postal code, and a per-person search that takes an ID number. For your own status, use the ID field. The FSCA's own disclaimer on the search says that information about persons must be verified with a search on the person's ID number, because names repeat and spellings vary.
4. Or search by FSP number. If you are a sole proprietor or key individual checking the licence itself, enter the FSP number. The form asks for the final digits only, without the reference prefix and slashes that appear on some licence documents.
5. Read the record, not just the hit. Confirm the provider name matches the one on your mandate, the status is authorised, and the categories and products match the work you actually do. A hit under the wrong provider, or with categories that stop short of your products, is a problem even though your name appears.
6. Keep evidence. Save a screenshot or PDF of the result with the date. Insurers, product suppliers and new employers often ask for it during onboarding, and it is useful in your own file if a question comes up later.

Which search answers which question

Your question	Search to use	What to enter
Am I listed as a representative, and for which FSP?	Financial Services Provider, per-person field	Your ID number
Is the brokerage licensed, and for what?	Financial Services Provider, FSP number or name field	Final digits of the FSP number, or part of the registered name
Is our compliance officer approved?	Compliance Officer	The compliance officer's details
Has a candidate been debarred before we appoint them?	Debarred Persons	The candidate's details, then confirm with their ID number
We need the full list of FSPs for a reconciliation	FAIS Export	Download the file from the FAIS Verifications page

The Debarred Persons search matters when you hire. Section 13 bars a debarred person from acting as a representative unless they meet the requirements set for the reappointment of a debarred person, and the FSP must at all times be satisfied that its representatives are fit and proper. Our article on FAIS debarment explains how a name gets onto that list.

When the result is not what you expected

• No result on your ID number. Ask your FSP's key individual or compliance officer whether your appointment was submitted to the FSCA, and when. Representative changes go in through the FSCA's FAIS e-services, which only the FSP can use. You cannot add yourself.
• Listed under your previous FSP. The old provider should have closed your appointment and the new one should have opened it. Ask both; the FSP that appointed you now is the one with the duty to keep its register right.
• Wrong categories or products. The register should reflect the categories in which you are competent. If you have started selling a product line that is not on the record, stop and raise it with the compliance officer before the next client conversation, not after.
• Name misspelt. Search by ID number to confirm the record is yours, then ask the FSP to correct the data it submitted.
• The search page will not load or looks different. The FSCA is replacing these legacy tools. Go back through the FAIS Verifications page rather than an old bookmarked address, and if it still fails, contact the FSCA through the contact details on its website.

If you are still writing the regulatory exam or working under supervision, the record can look different from that of a fully competent representative. The supervision route and the exam deadlines are covered in our guides to onboarding a representative under supervision and the RE5 exam.

Checking a whole team, not one name

For a key individual, the useful check is a reconciliation rather than a one-off search. Take your internal register of representatives, search each person by ID number, and compare three things: the person appears, the provider is yours, and the categories match. Anyone who has left should no longer appear under your FSP. Section 13(2) asks the FSP to be satisfied at all times that its representatives are competent and fit and proper; a register that drifts from reality makes that hard to show. Record the date of each check and who ran it.

Messages that make the check routine

Many brokerages ask representatives to confirm their status on WhatsApp. Short, factual messages work best. Examples a compliance officer could adapt:

Compliance officer to a new representative:
"Hi [first name], welcome aboard. Your appointment was submitted to the FSCA this week. Once it shows, please search the FSCA's FAIS Verifications page with your ID number and send me a screenshot of the result for your file."

Compliance officer, team reconciliation:
"Hi team, we're running the register check this month. Please search your ID number on the FSCA site and reply here with a screenshot. If the provider or categories look wrong, say so in this chat and I'll take it up."

Representative to a client who wants to verify them:
"Hi [first name], good question to ask. I'm a representative of [brokerage name], FSP [FSP number]. You can confirm the licence yourself on the FSCA website under FAIS Verifications, searching by that FSP number."

The last message points the client to the regulator instead of asking them to trust a screenshot. Never send a client a link to a "verification" page that is not the FSCA's own site.

When these exchanges happen on a shared brokerage number rather than personal phones, the confirmations stay on the record. In ORIS the brokerage connects one WhatsApp Business number, conversations sit in a shared inbox on the customer record, admin and broker roles are separate, and audit logs record activity. The register itself, and every submission to the FSCA, stays with the FSP. More on the South African market in our South Africa broker profile.

Frequently asked questions

How do I check my name on the FSCA register?

On the FSCA website, open FAIS Verifications, choose the Financial Services Provider search and enter your South African ID number in the per-person field. The result shows the provider record linked to you. Check the provider, status and categories, then save a dated copy.

Can I search the FSCA register by name only?

The provider search accepts a partial FSP name, but for a person the FSCA's own disclaimer says information must be verified with a search on the ID number. Names repeat and spellings differ, so a name match alone is not proof that the record is yours.

My name does not appear. Can I register myself?

No. A representative acts under the FSP's authorisation, and the FSP keeps the register and submits changes to the FSCA through its FAIS e-services. Ask your key individual or compliance officer whether your appointment was submitted and whether it was accepted.

Where do I find my FSP number?

It appears on your brokerage's licence and is usually shown on its disclosure documents, website and email signatures. In the FSCA search, enter only the final digits, without the reference prefix shown on some licence documents.

How can a client check that I am a registered representative?

Give the client your brokerage's registered name and FSP number and ask them to search it on the FSCA's FAIS Verifications page themselves. That keeps the check on the regulator's site rather than relying on a document you send.