SA’s grey listing is an opportunity to strengthen the fight against financial crimes – Ramaphosa

CYRIL RAMAPHOSA

LAST week, South Africa was put on a ‘grey list’ by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for falling short of certain international standards for the combating of money laundering and other serious financial crimes.

The FATF is a global body that aims to tackle global money laundering and terrorist financing. South Africa has been a member of FATF for the last 20 years due to our commitment to fight these criminal activities both at home and across the world.

The listing of South Africa as a ‘jurisdiction under increased monitoring’ – commonly known as grey listing – has caused much concern about the state of our financial institutions, law enforcement agencies and investment environment. The situation is concerning but less dire than some people suggest.

We have gone through a rigorous process of addressing the issues that FATF has raised with us. The fundamentals are in place and