South Africa has been removed from the European Union’s list of high‑risk jurisdictions, a development welcomed by the National Treasury as a boost for trade and investment flows with Europe.
The EU decision followed South Africa’s delisting from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) greylist and the United Kingdom’s high‑risk country list in October 2025.
Pretoria had been placed on the FATF’s “list of countries under increased monitoring” in February 2023, triggering automatic inclusion on the EU’s roster of high‑risk third‑country jurisdictions later that year.
Greylisting meant South African transactions faced enhanced due diligence in Europe, including stricter documentation requirements, continuous monitoring and senior management approval.
Treasury officials said these measures added friction to payments and investment, complicating trade with EU partners.
In announcing the removal, the European Commission noted that South Africa, along with Burkina Faso, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria and Tanzania, had strengthened its anti‑money laundering and counter‑terrorism financing regime (AML/CFT) and addressed technical deficiencies identified by FATF.
“The Commission, therefore, considers that Burkina Faso, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa and Tanzania no longer have strategic deficiencies in their AML/CFT regimes,” it said.
The National Treasury, however, cautioned that delisting does not mean all challenges have been resolved.
More work still needs to be done to strengthen deficiencies in the prevention, identification, investigation and prosecution of money laundering and terrorism financing.
South Africa is preparing for a new FATF evaluation, with a final report expected in October 2027.
Officials say lessons learned during the greylisting process will inform efforts to ensure compliance and avoid future sanctions.
JN/APA