TradeAnswers exists because the South African trading information landscape has a specific, recurring problem: most of what's published online about forex, CFDs, and trading platforms is written by people with a financial incentive to get you to deposit money with a specific broker. That isn't inherently dishonest, but it does mean the resulting content rarely gives a complete, balanced picture of the risks, costs, and realistic outcomes involved, the things a genuinely useful resource would lead with rather than bury.
The site was founded by Giancarlo Barosso after seeing how many South African traders were getting incomplete or biased answers to basic questions about forex and CFD trading, and is written together with Daniel Petek, whose industry background on the brokers and platforms side complements Giancarlo's focus on market mechanics and regulation. Between them, they've written and reviewed every one of the 565 answers on this site.
Written by two people who actually work in this industry
Most "trading education" sites are either written by marketing teams or by a single anonymous byline. We do it differently: every article on TradeAnswers is written by one of the two named people below, both of whom have a real, current background in the online trading industry, and both of whose names and LinkedIn profiles are linked on every article they write.
Giancarlo Barosso
Daniel Petek
What we cover
The site is organised into fifteen broad categories that, together, cover the practical questions a South African trader genuinely runs into, from the regulatory basics (FSCA licensing, SARB exchange control, FICA verification) through to the more personal, often-overlooked dimensions of trading that pure technical content tends to skip entirely: psychology, discipline, realistic time commitment, and how trading fits (or doesn't) around a full-time job and family life.
Every individual answer on this site is written to stand on its own, long enough to actually cover the nuance a question deserves, with a short, direct answer at the top for readers who want the headline first, followed by the fuller explanation, worked examples, and a short list of follow-up questions for anyone who wants to keep digging.
How we approach accuracy
Where we reference specific regulatory frameworks, the FSCA's licensing regime, the FAIS Act, FICA verification requirements, or SARB's exchange control rules, we aim to describe how these frameworks generally work rather than offering a substitute for checking the current, specific rule that applies to your situation. Regulations change, broker terms change, and tax thresholds get adjusted; we update content periodically, but the responsible practice for any reader making an actual financial decision is to verify the current specific detail directly with the relevant regulator, SARS, or your broker before acting on it.
We do not accept payment from brokers to influence how we describe them, and where we mention a specific broker by name, it is for illustration or because that broker happens to be directly relevant to the specific regulatory point being made, not as an endorsement or recommendation.
Who this site is for
TradeAnswers is written primarily for South African residents who are either considering trading for the first time, or who have started trading and want a clearer, more honest understanding of the mechanics, risks, and regulatory context they're operating within. We assume no prior trading knowledge in our beginner-facing content, while still going deep enough in our strategy, psychology, and broker-comparison content to be genuinely useful for traders who already have some experience.
This site is not, and does not claim to be, a substitute for personalised financial advice from a properly licensed financial advisor. Where a decision genuinely depends on your specific financial circumstances, how much to allocate to trading, how a specific tax situation should be handled, or whether a particular broker or product suits your needs, we encourage you to seek that personalised guidance directly, and we say so explicitly throughout the site rather than implying our general information is a substitute for it.
How this site is paid for
TradeAnswers carries no advertising and takes no payment for editorial coverage. The site is funded by its owner, and where a link to a broker appears it is because the page is about that broker, not because the placement was bought.
Everything here is free to read and free to use. The 112 calculators, the 105 embeddable widgets and the 34 reference tables carry no paywall, no sign-up and no tracking of the people who use them.
If that changes, this page will say so before it does.
Where Our Figures Come From
Every statutory figure comes from the body that publishes it: the South African Revenue Service for tax, the South African Reserve Bank for interest rates, the Financial Sector Conduct Authority for licensing, Statistics South Africa for economic data, and the JSE for market structure.
Each reference page carries the date its figures were last checked and links to the source for every table. We do not take a figure from another website without going to the original.
Where a figure has changed, the page shows both the current value and what it replaced, so a reader arriving with an older number can see what moved.
How We Handle Corrections
When we find an error we correct it and update the review date on the page. A material correction to a figure or a rule is noted rather than made silently.
If you believe something here is wrong, tell us through the contact page. We check the claim against its primary source and correct the page if it does not hold. We would rather be corrected than be wrong.
We do not remove a correction notice once it has been made.
Use of AI Tools
Drafting and research tools are used in production. Every page is reviewed by a named person before it is published, and every statutory figure is checked against its primary source by hand.
Responsibility for what appears on this site rests with us, not with a tool.
Keeping Pages Current
Reference pages are checked when the figure behind them changes: for tax that means each national budget, and for interest rates each Monetary Policy Committee decision.
Articles are reviewed when the rules they describe change. The review date at the top of a page is the date it was last checked, not the date it was first published.
What We Do Not Do
We do not provide financial, investment, tax or legal advice, and we make no recommendation about what any reader should buy, sell or hold.
We explain how things work and what the rules are, and we say plainly when a question needs a licensed professional. The Disclaimer sets out the full position.