The General Laws (Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorism Financing) Amendment Bill, 2022, which will make the necessary changes to avoid South Africa being “greylisted”, has been tabled

On 29 August 2022, the Minister of Finance tabled the much-anticipated General Laws (Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Terrorism Financing) Amendment Bill, 2022 (the Bill) in Parliament.  According to Cabinet, this Bill should indicate to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), and the world at large, that the South African government is committed to fighting corruption, money laundering and terrorism financing.  The Bill, as discussed in our previous update on this issue is known as an omnibus bill that will amend several pieces of legislation to attempt to meet the deadlines set by the FATF.

The FATF gave South Africa until October 2022 to adequately show that it is committed to effecting changes in policy and enforcing that policy on anti-money laundering and the combating of terrorism financing. If it failed to do so, the FATF would place the country on its “grey list” at a meeting to be held in February 2023. This would make doing business in South Africa very difficult.

The Bill is in line with the explanatory summary that was published by National Treasury on 18 August 2022.

The primary objective of the Bill is to address deficiencies in the customer due diligence measures contained in the Financial Intelligence Centre Act 38 of 2001.

Parliament will guide the process for considering the Bill, including the period of public comments, convening hearings, making amendments and passing the Bill.

A copy of the Bill is available on either Parliament’s and National Treasury's websites.

Webber Wentzel will publish a detailed analysis of the contents of the Bill soon and continue to monitor these developments.

Submitted by Webber Wentzel