<strong>By: </strong><b>ThinkMarkets</b>

<a href="http://www.thinkmarkets.com/" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.thinkmarkets.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1551858867601000&amp;usg=AFQjCNGD9hFGLra2fMQZiF3jKhOUWBvOGw"> ThinkMarkets</a>, an established provider of online trading in financial markets headquartered in Australia, with offices in the UK and Europe has been awarded a licence by the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) to offer electronic financial trading services to South African investors.

The business is optimistic about the South African economic landscape and the prospects for the Rand despite its volatility. The global brokerage firm is betting on the governments’ fiscal and economic reforms to reignite the economy and has selected South Africa as its future growth centre into Africa.

South Africans will be able to begin trading on the ThinkMarkets platform from 1 April 2019 with the confidence of a locally regulated firm. The local business will cater to the needs of South African traders and offer ThinkMarkets’ wide product range. An office will also be set up in Johannesburg.

Faizan Anees, managing director and co-founder of ThinkMarkets said: “We are delighted with our newly approved licence which is a testament to our commitment to offering contracts for difference (CFDs) and forex to global traders with the confidence of a regulated and safe trading environment.”

ThinkMarkets plans to offer a range of South African products including Rand based currency pairs such as USD ZAR, GBP ZAR and EUR ZAR as well as CFD indices and equity derivatives that are actively traded by investors on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

ThinkMarkets infrastructure includes an award-winning trading platform with the largest selection of indicators and technical analysis tools as well as in-depth and diverse product offering of major forex crosses, stock indices, commodities and single stock CFDs.

Anees continues, “Over the last 24-months, the firm has shifted its focus to emerging markets. This is due to the changing behaviour of investors and the use of technology. ThinkMarkets is one of the fastest growing brokers on mobile with South Africa boasting the largest number of smart phone users in Africa.”

In 2017 it launched its mobile-first corporate strategy with the acquisition of EU-based Trade Interceptor, a popular charting analytics mobile-app, and it aims to be the first full-service mobile-only brokerage firm.

ThinkMarkets believes that its South African-centric product offering and financial education and literacy programme will encourage more retail investors to understand the risks and rewards of the global financial markets.

"The decision to extend ThinkMarkets’ global footprint to South Africa demonstrates the confidence we have in this region and is reflective of our long-term vision and plans to be a leading participant in South Africa’s growing financial services sector,” concludes Anees.