South Africa exits FATF greylist: what this means for trust compliance

EXITING the greylist setting the tone for increased compliance efforts, also for non-compliant trustees

- PHIA VAN DER SPUY

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) announced on 24 October 2025 that South Africa has been removed from the FATF greylist, also known as the “Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring” list.

This follows the conclusion of the FATF Plenary meetings, held from October 22 to 24, 2025, in Paris, France. South Africa was added to the greylist in February 2023 after the FATF conducted a mutual evaluation in November 2019 and published its report in October 2021.

The reason for our placement on the greylist was deficiencies in our anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) systems, including inadequate enforcement of laws. The FATF issued a comprehensive list of shortcomings and necessary remediations, which South Africa initially targeted for removal from the greylist by February 2025. South Africa has taken extensive steps to exit the greylist, including amending legislation to better address financial crime, broadening the scope of the Financial Intelligence Centre Act, and financially empowering crime-fighting agencies. The South African Revenue Service (Sars) also implemented measures to combat tax money laundering.

Treasury’s response