With just 18 months before the next FATF greylisting review, South Africa – and, in fact, all of Southern Africa – are looking much more critically at their Anit-Money-Laundering initiatives.
This after the recent Al Jazeera investigations that shows how extensively organised crime uses Zimbabwean gold to launder money throughout Southern Africa. Some of the most notable mentions are bank officials at such South African banks as Absa, Standard Bank and Sasfin.
Watch: Al Jazeera Expose of Money Laundering in Southern Africa
If you haven’t seen the series yet, see the first video on the link above – there are many more in-depth investigation episodes on their YouTube channel.
A Wake-Up Call for All
Yet it’s important to understand that this is merely the tip of the iceberg. Up to $8 Billion is being laundered through the SA finance system every year, and not all of it is as cavalier “gangster” as gold – any financial advisor, service provider, salesperson, stock exchange (including crypto) even lawyers and estate agents – are vulnerable and could inadvertently be helping mafias like these launder money.
(For which one could easily find themselves fined R100 Million or sentenced to 30 years in prison.)
That’s what AML compliance is for – a simple way to protect yourself and your business from being scammed by these criminals.
And that is what we at ZenDetect help you do: We use tech to ensure you will never (even accidentally) get caught by criminals.
See how it affects the entire region in our post on illicit financial flows in Southern Africa.
Also get an inside look at balancing cost vs AML compliance in Africa, learn about AML compliance for microlenders and the process for AML in microfinance.
Ask us how.
