South Africa has proposed revisions to its financial crime legislation to tackle remaining gaps in its framework. The national treasury has floated amendments to four pieces of legislation, along with proposals to equip the South African Financial Intelligence Centre (FIC) with more power. The bill was released by the Treasury for public comment on Wednesday (14 January).
The Draft General Laws (Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorism Financing) Amendment Bill 2025 provides an updated legal framework to the General Laws (Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorism Financing) Amendment Bill 2024.
The items of legislation that fall under the proposed amendments are the Financial Intelligence Centre Act 2001, the Companies Act 2008, the Financial Sector Regulation Act 2017 and the Nonprofit Organisations Act 1997.
Among the revisions, the new bill aims to expand the scope of anti-financial crime investigations to cover non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and to conduct lifestyle audits. Additional proposals include permissions for information-sharing between agencies, expanded powers for the FIC to tackle deficiencies relating to financial sanctions, as well as deficiencies concerning new technologies, and to address issues with customer due diligence for anonymous clients.
The bill was developed in consultation with the Financial Intelligence Centre, the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition, the Department of Social Development, as well as financial sector regulators the Prudential Authority and the Financial Sector Conduct Authority.
South African stakeholders have been invited to submit public comment on the bill until 13 February this year.
Meanwhile, the European Union has officially removed South Africa from its list of “High-Risk Third Country Jurisdictions,” marking a significant milestone in the nation’s efforts to rehabilitate its financial compliance reputation and restore international confidence in its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing frameworks.
The decision, published on January 9, 2026, will take effect on January 29, 2026, and arrives as a direct consequence of South Africa’s successful exit from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list in October 2025.
National Treasury welcomed the development on Tuesday, January 13, 2026, describing it as the latest vote of confidence in the country’s sustained reform efforts to combat money laundering, terrorist financing, and strengthen the overall integrity of its financial system.
The removal means that financial transactions between South Africa and EU member states will no longer be subjected to the heightened levels of regulatory scrutiny that have complicated trade flows, cross-border payments, and investment activity since the country’s addition to the high-risk list in August 2023.
South Africa’s placement on the EU high-risk list in August 2023 occurred as an automatic consequence of its grey-listing by the Financial Action Task Force in February 2023. The FATF, a global intergovernmental body that sets standards for combating money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing, identified strategic deficiencies in South Africa’s anti-money laundering and counter-financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regime that warranted placing the country under increased monitoring.
The grey-listing reflected systemic weaknesses that had been exacerbated during the era of state capture, which saw a hollowing out of law enforcement capacity and the compromise of key financial institutions. Lax anti-money laundering measures had allowed wrongdoers to move money through the financial system without triggering adequate alarm bells, while failures to pursue prosecutions of individuals linked to state capture further undermined the country’s compliance credibility.
In response, a multidisciplinary team led by National Treasury embarked on an intensive reform program to address 22 specific action items identified by the FATF. These reforms included passing major legislative amendments in 2022, introducing strict requirements for identifying beneficial ownership to prevent the use of shell companies and trusts to hide illicit funds, improving risk-based supervision of designated non-financial businesses and professions, demonstrating sustained increases in mutual legal assistance requests to facilitate cross-border investigations, and strengthening law enforcement agencies’ capacity to investigate and prosecute financial crimes.
By June 2025, South Africa had substantially addressed all 22 items in the FATF action plan. A follow-up on-site assessment in July 2025 confirmed the sustainability of the reforms implemented, with senior government officials reaffirming their political commitment to maintaining and deepening the AML/CFT framework. This progress paved the way for South Africa’s removal from the FATF grey list on October 24, 2025, alongside Burkina Faso, Mozambique, and Nigeria.
Despite the celebrations surrounding the delistings, National Treasury has been pointed in acknowledging that significant work remains. The removal from the FATF grey list and EU high-risk roster does not signify that all challenges in implementing South Africa’s AML/CFT system have been resolved. “Much work still needs to be done to strengthen deficiencies in the prevention, identification, investigation and prosecution of money laundering and terrorism financing,” Treasury stated.
SARS Commissioner Edward Kieswetter emphasized that “removing the designation of grey listing is not a finish line but a milestone on a long-term journey toward building a robust and resilient financial ecosystem.” His comments reflect awareness within government that maintaining the progress achieved requires sustained institutional commitment and operational excellence across multiple agencies.
South Africa will enter a new round of FATF mutual evaluation in the coming months, with the final report scheduled for presentation to the FATF plenary in October 2027. These evaluations assess both technical compliance with FATF recommendations and the effectiveness of implementation in practice. The evaluation will scrutinize whether South Africa has maintained the improvements demonstrated during the grey-listing period and whether promised reforms have become embedded in institutional operations rather than representing temporary compliance theater.
Treasury indicated that “preparation has begun in earnest, incorporating the lessons learnt and experience gained during the process to exit FATF greylisting.” The upcoming evaluation will test whether the legal frameworks enacted, supervisory improvements implemented, and enforcement capacities built during the reform period translate into sustained results in detecting, investigating, prosecuting, and preventing financial crimes.
