STUART THEOBALD: SA needs a clear plan to deal with potential greylisting
The Reserve Bank has sounded the alarm, citing it as a new risk to financial stability
We are drifting with apparent indifference into being greylisted by the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog FATF (which stands for the somewhat Hollywoodesque “Financial Action Task Force”). This would eliminate medium-term economic growth completely, and almost no-one seems to be worrying about it.
The consequences of grey-listing will be dramatic. Every counterpart across the world will have to apply a higher level of due diligence to SA businesses. International banks will add another layer of bureaucracy to engagements with South Africans. International aid funders such as the World Bank and EU will apply additional restrictions on support to SA. The IMF often specifies FATF compliance for access to funding...
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