South Africa has been added to the greylist by the international financial watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

The FATF announced the decision on Friday afternoon following a five-day plenary meeting in Paris.

The body had previously found that South Africa scored poorly when it came to having rigorous laws relating to anti-money laundering and the countering of financing terrorism.

South Africa and Nigeria have been added to the greylist of countries that will be closely monitored.
Earlier this week, Director-General of National Treasury Ismail Momoniat warned the country should be prepared for the possibility of being greylisted.

“I think if we look at what will happen … if we were to be Greylisted, for example, it’s to what extent have we made progress. I think we’ve made phenomenal progress in the last year and a half. I think when a county is seen to be taking actual steps, it’s just a matter of time to complete those steps. I think we can reduce the impact if there were to be an adverse outcome.”

CEO of Botswana Stock Exchange, Thapelo Tsheole, shared their country’s experience of what South Africa could expect if it were to experience the same fate.

“It becomes difficult for you to attract new investors into your market, both domestic and international investors, and there’s some level of investors pulling out of the market, some start selling off their shares and divesting from the market.”