In addition, the Authority’s licensing process, further seeks to ensure that only companies that have the necessary mechanisms in place to protect consumers are allowed to trade in the non-bank financial sector.

Ntebele indicated that unlicensed operators are a common presence across many sectors of the economy, including the virtual asset business industry, and unfortunately expose unsuspecting members of the public to the risk of abuse and fraud.

NBFIRA has put in place various means to sniff out unlicensed operators such as market surveillance, public education using various media platforms and tip-offs about unlicensed entities.