The Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) has announced that it noted the decision of the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) to overturn the judgment of the Gauteng Division of the High Court, which had allowed for the liquidation of JP Markets.
This week, the SCA passed a judgment stating that the FSCA was wrong in shutting down online broker JP Markets, which was SA's largest at the time.
The country’s financial market regulator suspended JP Markets licensing because of a continuous issue in processing its client's withdrawals. That later led to the issuing of a liquidation order by a High Court against the brokerage firm, which it appealed to the SCA. The company started operating in 2016.
The FSCA said it intended to abide by the judgment and will now proceed with the processing of the application by JP Markets for an over-the-counter (OTP) product provider licence and the consideration of all outstanding enforcement actions.
"The FSCA brings to the attention of the public that JP Markets is not licensed as an OTP product provider, neither is it entitled to conduct the business of an OTP product provider until a decision has been made by the Authority on the status of its application," the authority said.
Speaking to Finance Magnates, an online publication, JP Markets founder and CEO Justin Paulsen said the company plans to return to the industry.
“All of the allegations brought against JP Markets by the FSCA, the media or otherwise, have been expunged and JP Markets is, for all intents and purposes, absolved, and its character as Africa’s biggest forex broker restored. JP Markets had sufficient capital adequacy and was not guilty of any fraud or misconduct and therefore posed no risk to its clients," he told the publication.
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