Country stays on greylist

Remaining on list means a stagnant economy anda degrading rand.

- Ina Opperman

South Africa will remain on the greylist of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) due to its remaining strategic deficiencies, despite government's optimism that SA will be taken off the greylist by this year.

The FATF is an intergovernmental body established in 1989 by the ministers of its member jurisdictions to protect financial systems and the broader economy from threats of money laundering and the financing of terrorism and proliferation.

This is done to strengthen financial sector integrity and contributes to safety and security.

Jurisdictions under increased monitoring work with the FATF to address strategic deficiencies in their regimes to counter money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing.

When the FATF places a jurisdiction under increased monitoring, it means the country has committed to resolve the identified strategic deficiencies within agreed timeframes and is subject to increased monitoring. This list is known as the "greylist".

According to the outcomes of the FATF plenary held in Singapore over the past three days, SA made a high-level political commitment in February last year to work with the FATF and the eastern and southern Africa anti-money laundering group to strengthen the effectiveness of its anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism regime.