Posts

FTI: writing was on the wall well before SA’s greylisting

In late February 2023, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) announced the addition of South Africa to its so-called grey list, along with Nigeria, UAE, Tanzania, and Uganda. South Africa failed to satisfactorily address shortcomings in its anti-money laundering and -terrorist financing legal framework – which were highlighted in the FATF 2021 mutual evaluation review (MER). The Read more >

A register for beneficial owners: new obligations for shareholders

By Eric JordaanFirst published on Moneyweb Following South Africa’s greylisting in February – and the recommendations made by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) – the General Laws Amendment Act (Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorism Financing) places new obligations on companies to register prescribed information regarding beneficial ownership. Of the eight areas of strategic deficiencies Read more >

CIPC says SA’s beneficial ownership register almost here

Plans are afoot to tackle South Africa’s lackadaisical beneficial ownership regime. The Companies and Intellectual Property Commission (CIPC) has announced that it will implement a beneficial ownership (BO) information collection and storage regime as soon as regulations in that regard are promulgated. Greater BO transparency is a crucial component in the fight against financial crime. Read more >

Fact sheet on South Africa’s FATF greylisting

South Africa’s national treasury has released a useful fact sheet on the background to and implications of the country’s recent greylisting by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). Titled What does FATF greylisting mean for a country?, the six-page document explains the role of the FATF and the mutual evaluations all FATF members are required Read more >

Has SA done enough to avoid joining the FATF grey list?

By James GeorgeFirst published on Moneyweb It’s a loaded question, and a lot has been done such as President Ramaphosa signing two amendments to our anti-money laundering (AML) and anti-terrorism laws in December last year. The real question, however, is whether these amendments are going to translate into actions being taken. Will we see prosecution, Read more >

Weakened law-making system leads to inadequate legislation

Image: Wikimedia Commons, used under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license South Africa’s law-making regime is another casualty of the corruption and mismanagement that was prevalent during the state capture years, writes Caroline James, advocacy co-ordinator at amaBhungane. Here she describes how amaBhungane and Corruption Watch had to rush to get their joint submission Read more >