Listen: Global investing platform TFOS enters South Africa

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CIARAN RYAN: If you have a problem with CFDs, or contracts for difference, which are highly speculative and volatile instruments, you may want to explore how you can buy real-world assets such as Tesla, Amazon, bonds, or exchange-traded funds [ETFs] on overseas exchanges.

One company making a big move into South Africa is Turlov Family Office Securities, otherwise known as TFOS. It was created by Timur Turlov, also founder of Freedom Holding Corporation. That’s a Nasdaq-listed fintech group operating across 22 countries with $2 billion in revenue.

It has offices in South Africa and is a licensed financial services provider [FSP], as well as a crypto-asset service provider.

Joining us to discuss this is Oleksandr Tsyhlin, executive director at TFOS. Hi, Oleksandr, tell us about TFOS, what it is you do, and what you don’t do.

OLEKSANDR TSYHLIN: A few words about our company – we are a Category 1 financial services provider, licensed and based here in South Africa. We also have crypto asset service provider [Casp] approval from the Financial Sector Conduct Authority [FSCA].

We position ourselves as a technological infrastructure that connects clients with global markets.

Through a single platform, we provide access to US stocks, ETFs, and crypto investments, all in one place.

The platform can be accessed via a mobile application or through a web browser, offering a seamless experience.

It represents the next step in combining digital and traditional assets within a single, convenient solution.

CIARAN RYAN: You’ve entered South African market fairly recently. Tell us about that and why now? Why have you recently made the move to South Africa?

OLEKSANDR TSYHLIN: Firstly, we saw strong potential in the South African market. It is well regulated by the FSCA, supported by frameworks such as the Financial Advisory and Intermediary Services [Fais] Act and anti-money laundering [AML] regulations. Overall, it is a mature and professional market.

We have therefore built infrastructure specifically for professionals, with our target audience being financial advisors and wealth managers.

Importantly, we are not competing with them. Instead, we position ourselves as a solution that enables them to expand their service offering to clients.

In terms of timing, we entered the market in 2022, ahead of South Africa’s removal from the FATF [Financial Action Task Force] grey list and prior to rating improvements by S&P.

We recognised the opportunity early, and we’re very pleased to now be operating in this market.

CIARAN RYAN: And how has it been going in the few years that you’ve been here? How has the reception been from South Africans?

OLEKSANDR TSYHLIN: We are still a relatively new brand in South Africa, although we have a significant presence internationally, particularly across Europe and Central Asia.

Our focus, at this stage, is on building our reputation locally.

Given the scale and value of our founder’s reputation, we are taking a measured approach to ensure everything is done correctly.

We have already begun establishing a partnership network and have participated in key conferences for wealth managers and advisors.

We see strong growth potential in this market. In fact, South African equity markets performed well in 2025 relative to global peers, reinforcing our positive outlook.

CIARAN RYAN: All right. So now tell us about protecting client assets. We’ve had a few scandals in South Africa, Banxso being one of them, where people lost a lot of money. Now how do you protect clients’ assets?

OLEKSANDR TSYHLIN: As I mentioned, we are a licensed financial services provider, so we comply with all required regulatory checks and controls. This includes audited financial statements, which we submit to the FSCA on a regular basis.

Client assets are fully segregated, and importantly, we do not operate as a CFD provider, meaning clients have real ownership of the underlying assets.

We work with established liquidity providers and upstream brokers in both Europe and the US.

In addition, we have insurance cover through Lloyd’s of London of up to $100 000 per claimant. This ensures that client assets remain protected, even in the event of unforeseen circumstances.

CIARAN RYAN: So you’re appealing to the financial advisors or are you appealing directly to the investors, the individual investors? If it’s advisors, what is it that you can offer them through TFOS?

OLEKSANDR TSYHLIN: We are appealing, first of all, to professionals. It’s advisors and wealth managers. We provide them with a platform and supporting infrastructure that allows us to provide their brands with access to global markets, including the US, Europe, and Asia, such as the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

So in one place, they can manage client assets, generate brokerage reports, and monitor performance.

But the platform is also accessible to end clients, who can trade directly via or mobile app.

However, our core objective is to act as a bridge between clients and financial professionals.

Our positioning is underpinned by technology backed by Freedom Holding, which invests millions of dollars every year in IT development, creating a strong competitive advantage in the South African market.

CIARAN RYAN: So you have an app that a person can download onto their mobile phone, correct?

OLEKSANDR TSYHLIN: Yeah, our app is available on iOS and Google Play, it’s called TFOS.

CIARAN RYAN: If somebody downloads that TFOS app, is that the individual client who’s making the decisions to buy and sell? Or is it the advisor?

OLEKSANDR TSYHLIN: It’s for clients to decide themselves, we don’t provide advice. While we do hold the necessary licence, providing advice is not our core business, as we do not aim to compete with advisors. So clients can decide if they want to trade themselves and download the app and start trading, or they can connect their advisors with us and we will show them how our platform works and how they can benefit from working with us.

CIARAN RYAN: And those who download the app, can they also purchase shares on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange [JSE]?

OLEKSANDR TSYHLIN: Not yet, but we are in the process of establishing relationships with the JSE, as well as smaller exchanges such as the Cape Town Stock Exchange [CTSE].

CIARAN RYAN: All right. A lot of people operating in this space, I’m talking about the big guys with big money, what they tend to do is they buy up these independent practices. So you get these very, very large groups of practices. Are you doing the same thing or are you operating in a different way?

OLEKSANDR TSYHLIN: No, we do not engage in the consolidation of practices. We support their independence. So we provide them with a good IT solution to support their independence and provide additional benefits for their clients, and to make them stronger. So we make independent practices stronger. We don’t do consolidation like some huge groups in South Africa.

CIARAN RYAN: So if a person has got this app on their phone, are they able to see in real time what their portfolio of value is?

OLEKSANDR TSYHLIN: They will be able to see their stock portfolio in real time, in one place.

They can buy bonds, which are fixed income products, they can also buy crypto – all consolidated in one place.

At any time, they can withdraw their funds or transfer their funds.

As I mentioned, we do not operate as a CFD provider, so people can actually transfer their securities to another broker, with real-time reporting available.

CIARAN RYAN: Fascinating. We’re going to leave it there. That was Oleksandr Tsyhlin, executive director at TFOS. Thanks very much for joining us, Oleksandr.

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