Dr Samantha Smith is STBB's chief Content Writer and Legal Editor, a position she has occupied since February 2024. Samantha graduated with a BSocSci, LLB, LLM, and PhD (Law) from the University of Cape Town. She brainstorms and writes all social media, newsflashes, newsletters, digital and print advertisements, magazine articles, webinar invitations, and podcast blurbs. Furthermore, Samantha creates tenders and proposals, legal updates and presentations, information sheets, content for special projects, and text for various other digital publications and communications. Additionally, she writes or edits biographies, and works on brochures, handouts, and other STBB collateral. Outside of her demanding role, Samantha is a passionate animal and environmental advocate whose comprehensive research has been praised by some of the world's leading animal law experts, including the planet's most published animal law scholar and an Acting Justice of South Africa's Constitutional Court.

Newsflash | SA on the brink of grey list exit

In a positive development for economic growth and investment, National Treasury announced on Friday that South Africa has taken a major step towards being removed from the Financial Action Task Force (‘the FATF’) grey list after completing all 22 action items set out in its 2023 Action Plan.

Following the FATF Plenary on 13th June 2025, the global watchdog praised South Africa’s demonstrable increase in investigating and prosecuting complex financial crimes and reforming its national anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing strategy. Signifying a notable turnaround in compliance efforts, this progress has triggered the final step in South Africa’s bid to exit the grey list: an official on-site assessment by the FATF’s Africa Joint Group. If successful, this inspection will formally conclude the country’s greylisting status.

In light of the pejorative impact of greylisting on commercial and economic progress, the announcement will no doubt be welcomed by businesses, investors, bankers, multilateral institutions, and developers. The wide-reaching benefits of South Africa’s potential grey list exit include enhanced financial credibility on the international stage, smoother cross-border transactions, increased foreign direct investment and capital inflows, and a strengthened Rand.

At STBB, our team of more than 120 skilled attorneys celebrate South Africa’s progress and look forward to supporting our clients with streamlined cross-border transactions and other business dealings, property development matters, exchange control assistance, and commercial property finance transactions.

For comprehensive legal guidance, contact our specialists at info@stbb.co.za.

This content is the property of STBB. We encourage the sharing of our content for informational purposes. However, if you wish to copy or reproduce our content on your own platform or website, please ensure that proper credit is given to STBB.

For the best legal advice and personalised service, let's talk
Subscribe to our monthly newsletters, subscribe