The South African cabinet on Wednesday welcomed the accession by South Africa to the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF), which also deals with terrorist financing.
The FATF is housed at the headquarters of the Organisation of Economic Co-
operation and Development (OECD) in Paris and works with the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, the Commonwealth Secretariat
and Interpol. It is, however, not part of the OECD.
South African Cabinet spokesperson Joel Netshitenzhe told a media briefing after a regular cabinet meeting that South Africa “was welcomed as the 30th member of this group — and the first African member — not only because of its commitment to these global efforts and the quality of its own legislation and practices on these issues, but also because it is recognised as a strategic country in the international financial system”.
The FATF described the organisation “as an inter-governmental body whose purpose is the development and promotion of policies, both at national and international levels, to combat money laundering. The task force is therefore a “policy-making body” which works to generate the necessary political will to bring about national legislative and regulatory reforms to combat money laundering”.
It notes that in response to mounting concern over money laundering, the FATF was established by the G-7 Summit that was held in Paris in 1989.
“Recognising the threat posed to the banking system and to financial institutions, the G-7 Heads of State or Government and President of the European Commission convened the force from the G-7 member States, the European Commission, and eight other countries,” it notes. – I-Net Bridge