AMERICAN COMPLIANCE OFFICERS: RAISE COUNTRY RISK ON THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA

This Iranian warship, sitting docked in port in the Republic of South Africa, as part of a massive maritime military exercise that includes China and Russia, reminds compliance officers at U.S. banks that money launderers working for sanctioned jurisdictions, as well as non-state actors, can easily use South Africa's financial institutions to receive funds, and to transfer them outward, as sanctioned countries and terrorist organizations for the United States, do business there. Hezbollah actually maintains fundraising offices there.

From a purely political viewpoint BRICS+, the group of mainly totalitarian states that South Africa is a member of, is an economic union, not a military alliance. President Donald, among others in the US Government, is not happy America's opponents are training their naval forces off the African coast, and sanctions of some sort on South Africa, which ha already reportedly lost American aid, could follow.

Compliance officers at American financial institutions would be well advised to examine any significant financial transaction they encounter, when not directly related to an existing client's international book of business. I submit that any compliance officer reading this article, who is charged with the regular assessment of Country Risk, examine the situation with South Africa, and based upon the facts, choose to raise Country Risk on RSA to Elevated at this time.