South Africa is seemingly en route to exiting the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) greylisting for shortcomings in its anti-money laundering and combatting financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) measures.
An on-site assessment late in July by an FATF Africa joint group followed a June announcement noting South Africa had “substantially completed” all 22 task force identified action items announced in February 2023. A South African National Treasury (NT) statement has it, in part, the FATF Africa joint group will report to the October FATF plenary. Its recommendations on whether South Africa can be delisted will be considered then as well as if the “necessary political commitment remains in place to sustain progress”.
South African reforms to exit the greylist include demonstrating a sustained increase in investigations and prosecutions of serious and complex money laundering and the full range of terror financing (TF) activities in line with its risk profile; as well as updating its TF risk assessment to inform “implementation of a comprehensive national counter financing of terrorism strategy”.
Earlier this year NT said improvements to South Africa’s AML/CFT regime were important “given the legacy of State Capture” which deliberately weakened law enforcement and prosecuting institutions. Improvements in these domains are critical not only for exiting the greylist but also for strengthening the fight against crime and corruption and contributing to the integrity of the South African financial system.
“Exiting the FATF greylist is a significant step forward as South Africa continues to improve and strengthen its supervisory and criminal justice systems,” according to Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s NT.
Treasury will not be issuing further media statements or conducting interviews until the FATF Plenary concludes its next Plenary Meeting on 24 October 2025 and issues its post-plenary outcomes media statement.
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