South Africa exits FATF 'grey list' after nearly 3 years

FATF (Courtesy: Reuters photo)

South Africa has been delisted from the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) 'grey list' nearly three years after being added to it.

The global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog announced the decision in Paris last week after the conclusion of its three-day plenary meeting.

Countries on FATF's 'grey list' are under increased monitoring and have to address strategic deficiencies to counter money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing.

“Over the past 32 months, South Africa has engaged with a team of reviewers assigned by the FATF to assess progress against the Action Plan," South Africa’s National Treasury said in a statement.

"This culminated in an on-site visit at the end of July 2025, when the assessors came to the country to confirm the sustainability of the reforms that had been reported to them,” it said.

The statement added that FATF was assured of the government’s commitment to sustainably improve the country’s Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) system.

“South Africa’s progress in addressing the AML/CFT deficiencies and exiting the FATF grey list represents a major policy and institutional achievement for the people of South Africa, particularly following the weakening of key law enforcement and other institutions during the state capture era,” the statement added.

However, Treasury also cautioned against any complacency to avoid being placed back on the FATF 'grey list'.

It said that neither government agencies nor regulated entities in the private sector can afford to "become complacent and stop improving".

They must continue to strengthen the AML/CFT system as the FATF requires countries that have exited the grey list to demonstrate continued commitment through "measurable outcomes, including successful investigations, prosecutions, and sanctions as they relate to AML/CFT,” it said.

Other African countries which were delisted from the FAFT 'grey list' were Nigeria, Mozambique and Burkina Faso.