By next month, South Africa and Nigeria might be taken off the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) gray list.
According to people familiar with the situation, the task force’s assessors, who conducted on-site visits in recent weeks, indicated notable progress, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.
In February 2023, the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) heightened its surveillance of South Africa and Nigeria due to their shortcomings in combating illicit financial flows.
According to the report, “a final decision is expected on October 24 at the FATF plenary in Paris.”
“Mozambique and Burkina Faso are also expected to be taken off the list, subject to confirmation by the 40 nations that make up the watchdog.”
Exiting the grey list would indicate that the measures implemented since last year are working, according to Lauren van Biljon, senior portfolio manager at Allspring Global Investments, who commented on the development.
She added that although the market impact would be slight, asset prices might temporarily rise as a result.
Fighting money laundering and terrorism financing is the goal of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an intergovernmental policy-making organization.
The financial systems of nations on its gray list are usually subject to more stringent monitoring.
The FATF approved an on-site inspection after the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) said on June 14 that the nation has made progress in combating money laundering and terrorism funding.
The federal government of Nigeria announced in July that over 730 people had been found guilty of crimes related to terrorism.
