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The Consequences of FATF Greylisting

Landstedt, Jonathan LU (2026) EOSK12 20251
Department of Economic History
Abstract
In February 2023, South Africa was placed on the Financial Action Task Force
(FATF) greylist, raising concerns about the effects of this decision on the country. Existing
studies focus mainly on macroeconomic indicators and legal analysis, with little evidence on
how people experience greylisting. This thesis explores how key financial, regulatory and policy
stakeholders perceive the economic, regulatory and reputational effects of South Africa’s
greylisting between 2023 and 2025. The study used a qualitative case-study design based on 12
semi-structured interviews with stakeholders from banking and compliance, tourism,
government, consultancy, academia and civil society. Data was analysed through reflexive
thematic analysis.... (More)
In February 2023, South Africa was placed on the Financial Action Task Force
(FATF) greylist, raising concerns about the effects of this decision on the country. Existing
studies focus mainly on macroeconomic indicators and legal analysis, with little evidence on
how people experience greylisting. This thesis explores how key financial, regulatory and policy
stakeholders perceive the economic, regulatory and reputational effects of South Africa’s
greylisting between 2023 and 2025. The study used a qualitative case-study design based on 12
semi-structured interviews with stakeholders from banking and compliance, tourism,
government, consultancy, academia and civil society. Data was analysed through reflexive
thematic analysis. Findings indicated that stakeholders see greylisting as a consequence of
governance and enforcement weaknesses. They describe operational frictions, higher compliance
costs and stricter reforms - felt most among NPOs and SMEs, with tourism effects being uneven.
Greylisting is viewed as an added reputational layer rather than a decisive factor in investment or
travel decisions. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Landstedt, Jonathan LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
The Consequences of FATF Greylisting
course
EOSK12 20251
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
FATF, greylisting, South Africa, AML/CFT, de-risking, stakeholder perceptions
language
English
id
9221190
date added to LUP
2026-03-16 10:23:40
date last changed
2026-03-16 10:23:40
@misc{9221190,
  abstract     = {{In February 2023, South Africa was placed on the Financial Action Task Force
(FATF) greylist, raising concerns about the effects of this decision on the country. Existing
studies focus mainly on macroeconomic indicators and legal analysis, with little evidence on
how people experience greylisting. This thesis explores how key financial, regulatory and policy
stakeholders perceive the economic, regulatory and reputational effects of South Africa’s
greylisting between 2023 and 2025. The study used a qualitative case-study design based on 12
semi-structured interviews with stakeholders from banking and compliance, tourism,
government, consultancy, academia and civil society. Data was analysed through reflexive
thematic analysis. Findings indicated that stakeholders see greylisting as a consequence of
governance and enforcement weaknesses. They describe operational frictions, higher compliance
costs and stricter reforms - felt most among NPOs and SMEs, with tourism effects being uneven.
Greylisting is viewed as an added reputational layer rather than a decisive factor in investment or
travel decisions.}},
  author       = {{Landstedt, Jonathan}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{The Consequences of FATF Greylisting}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}