South Africa's financial services sector is world class, backed by a sound regulatory and legal framework. The sector boasts dozens of domestic and foreign institutions providing a full range of services including commercial, retail and merchant banking, mortgage lending, insurance and investments.

The World Federation of Exchanges recently ranked the JSE Securities Exchange SA 16th in terms of market capitalization, 20th in terms of market turnover and 39th in terms of liquidity. The exchange has a market capitalization of 2,593 billion ZAR (432 billion USD).

South Africa's banking sector compares favorably with that of industrialized countries. Foreign banks are well represented. Electronic banking facilities are extensive, with a nationwide network of automatic teller machines (ATMs) and Internet banking facilities as a growth point in this sector.

This is just a sample of what you'll find in the complete South Africa guide.