Illustrative image: Phone. (Photo: Freepik) | Banxso logo. (Image: Banxso website) | (By Daniella Lee Ming Yesca) The online trading platform Banxso has been placed under final liquidation.
In a judgment on Monday, 2 March, in the Western Cape High Court, Judge J le Grange confirmed that Banxso should be wound up, bringing to an end months of legal wrangling over whether the company was insolvent and whether it had operated unlawfully
For thousands of investors who lost money after being lured by deepfake advertisements and promises of extraordinary returns, the order marks a pivotal turning point.
However, the final liquidation order handed down this week is not, in itself, a refund.
Why the court ordered liquidation
The matter came before court on the return day following a provisional winding-up order granted in August 2025.
A group of investors, including pensioner Carol Wentzel, asked the court to make that order final.
The court found that the applicants had established three grounds for winding up Banxso:
- It was unable to pay its debts;
- It was just and equitable to liquidate the company due to illegality and fraud; and
- The company had effectively lost its substratum, meaning it could no longer achieve the purpose for which it was formed.
On insolvency, the numbers are stark. The applicants’ claims totalled more than R70-million. When a separate claim of R67-million was added, admitted liabilities exceeded R137-million.
By contrast, Banxso’s available funds in its bank accounts were approximately R69.97-million, leaving a shortfall of more than R67-million.
Banxso argued that it remained solvent and had offered security for certain claims. The court was not persuaded. On a balance of probabilities, it found Banxso to be factually and commercially hopelessly insolvent.
The court also gave weight to the Financial Sector Conduct Authority’s (FSCA’s) comprehensive analysis and the R2-billion in administrative penalties imposed on Banxso and its key individuals in December 2025.
The judge found compelling evidence that the business was not conducted as represented to the public and that the alleged regulatory “clean-up” was unconvincing given the scale of the misconduct.
Importantly, the court rejected arguments that the liquidation was an abuse of process or that alleged conflicts involving the applicants’ attorneys should derail the matter.
The final order is clear: Banxso is placed under final liquidation.
What liquidation means in practice
Liquidation does not mean that money will immediately flow back to investors.
It means that the company ceases to exist as a going concern. Its assets are gathered, realised and distributed by a liquidator in accordance with insolvency law.
A provisional liquidator was already in place. Now, a final liquidator will be appointed by the Master of the High Court. That liquidator will take control of the company’s books, records and remaining assets. They will investigate the company’s affairs, trace assets and, where appropriate, institute proceedings to recover money for the estate.
The liquidator’s duties will include:
- Identifying and verifying creditor claims;
- Securing and preserving assets;
- Investigating potential voidable transactions;
- Reporting to creditors; and
- Distributing funds in accordance with the Insolvency Act.
What investors must do now
If you invested with Banxso and lost money, you are now a creditor.You will need to lodge a formal claim with the liquidator. This is not automatic.
Even if you were part of the court application or have complained to the FSCA, you must still submit a proof of claim in the prescribed form once the liquidator calls for claims.
Keep every document:
⚠️Deposit confirmations;
⚠️Trading statements;
⚠️Emails and WhatsApp messages;
⚠️Contracts or terms and conditions;
⚠️Bank statements reflecting payments; and
⚠️Any communication regarding “refunds” or “trade credits”.
The liquidator will require proof of the amount owed. Claims are typically verified at a creditors’ meeting.
It is also important for you to be realistic. The court has already found a significant shortfall between liabilities and available funds. If the estate is insolvent, creditors will receive a dividend proportionate to available assets, not necessarily the full amount they lost.
Secured creditors are paid first, followed by certain preferent claims, and then concurrent creditors.
Most retail investors will likely rank as concurrent creditors unless specific circumstances apply.
Elizabeth, an investor who lost more than R1.2-million within a few days, said she was “extremely thankful” to hear that “there is movement at last. The matter has been pending for a year.”
“Thanks to the Daily Maverick articles, I was able to lodge a claim and, of course, I would like to get some money back, but I’m not holding out much hope,” she said.
Can more money be recovered?
That depends on what the liquidator uncovers.
The judgment refers to alleged comingling of funds, cryptocurrency flows and connected entities. If funds were diverted, transferred to related parties or improperly paid out, the liquidator may have the power to pursue recovery actions.
There are also parallel regulatory and potential criminal processes. The FSCA has already imposed administrative penalties and debarments. The Financial Intelligence Centre and the National Prosecuting Authority have previously been involved in freezing and preservation actions.
If criminal proceedings follow and assets are restrained or confiscated, there may be additional avenues for restitution. However, these processes are often lengthy.
What about Banxso’s argument that it could recover?
Banxso argued that it could challenge the withdrawal of its licence and that its client book remained valuable. The court regarded this as speculative. Its licence has been finally withdrawn, its operations have ceased, and its assets are frozen. The company has, in effect, lost the foundation of its business.
For investors, that means the chapter of Banxso as an operating platform is over.
The broader significance
The judgment is significant beyond Banxso.
The court recognised the scale of the alleged illegality, affecting thousands of investors and involving hundreds of millions of rands. It emphasised that alternative regulatory remedies do not prevent creditors from seeking liquidation, particularly where public interest and systemic integrity are at stake.
In other words, regulatory fines are not enough if a company is insolvent and unable to repay those it harmed.
For investors, the road ahead will be administrative, procedural and, for many, painful. There will be forms to complete, meetings to attend and long waits for possible dividends.
But there is now legal clarity.
Banxso is no longer fighting to stay alive. The focus has shifted to accountability, asset tracing and distribution. DM