Why the Greylisting Outcome Demands a New Era of Financial Integrity
Meeting the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) demands should be seen as a new baseline, says Hawken McEwan from nCino KYC Africa.
The verdict is in: South Africa has been removed from the FATF grey list, a milestone worth celebrating, but not a finish line.
The reforms of the past two years were critical, yet the real work really begins now.
Sustaining this progress will demand more than compliance checklists; it calls for resilience, transparency and a lasting shift in how we think about financial integrity.
Since South Africa was placed on the grey list in February 2023, accountable institutions and the public sector have scrambled to address the FATF’s demands, passing technical checklists, rewriting policies, improving reporting and investing in oversight.
With removal from the list, the immediate pay-off is a welcome boost from renewed investor confidence to more buoyant financial markets.
Author's summary: South Africa's removal from the grey list marks a new era for financial integrity.