Blacklist crooks, criminals now

It is difficult to understate the importance of the decision by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to remove South Africa from its "grey-list" of dodgy countries - those whose lax banking and enforcement practices allow what the FATF calls "illicit financial flows, terrorist funding and potential threats to the integrity of the global financial system".

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First, and foremost, it confirms to foreign investors that there is some system of accountability and vigilance when it comes to financial transactions. No investor wants to plough money into a country - unless they are money-launderers - where there are lax controls.