South Africa on track to exit FATF Grey List as Treasury notes major progress

National Treasury said it is satisfied with the progress being made to remove South Africa from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Grey List. 

This was after the FATF noted that it upgraded four of the six outstanding action items at the latest plenary meetings in France.

Treasury fully believes that SA will exit the Grey List by October after having addressed nearly all the deficiencies that were identified in the country’s financial security systems.

The country was grey listed by the FATF in February 2023 for not complying with international standards that relate to money laundering and addressing illicit financial flows.

Treasury said that government has now addressed or largely addressed 20 out of the 22 action items outlined in its plan and the two remaining items are expected to be addressed in the reporting period from March 2025 to June 2025.

“This would enable South Africa to be considered for delisting from the FATF Grey List in October 2025,” according to a statement by Treasury.

“National Treasury welcomes the efforts of financial and non-financial regulators and beneficial ownership registries and its law enforcement users, in securing upgrades for the four action items they were directly responsible for in the current reporting cycle,” the organisation said.

Treasury also said that it recognised the ongoing efforts by all the law enforcement agencies to demonstrate significant progress in respect of the two action items not yet upgraded, relating to the investigation and prosecution of serious and complex money laundering and of terrorist financing.

“Our investigation and prosecution teams are working closely in terms of a prosecution-guided investigation strategy to ensure that we demonstrate the sustained progress as required by FATF. These improvements are critical not just for getting off the grey list, but, critically, for strengthening the fight against crime and corruption."

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