On Friday the Financial Action Task Force concluded their latest meeting and the good news from my side is South Africa is no longer on the naughty boy Grey List. I had not paid much attention to this in the past as this never directly impacted myself until last month.
Opening a bank account is like counting 1,2 and 3 unless you live in a country that is listed on the Grey List. The list is basically countries being observed for money laundering, drug dealings and providing financial loop holes for financing and purchasing weapons of mass destruction. South Africa has been removed along with Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Mozambique.
I am tempted to phone my contact at the bank in Dubai this week, but will wait and sort out my ex UK bank first. This will hopefully be rectified this week and only then can I proceed. There is no major rush as I at least have the Revolut account for now.
Having an account in Dubai however is still an integral part of the cog to my crypto off ramp when combined with Pallapay a crypto service provider also based in Dubai. Having transactions flow internally in a crypto friendly country and not across borders does not raise any questions like source of funds. Revolut as good and convenient as it might be would not be the answer if you suddenly deposited $500k or more and I would presume even $15K would have questions asked.
Having a well thought out off ramp is not that easy especially with a crypto portfolio that is expected to rise in dollar value over the coming months and years. I was prepared to pay $60K into a bond like payment over 5 years so this should tell you the value I place on having this bank account. The hope is now that $60K is no longer required and I can just go ahead and open an account.
The good thing even though the last months trip was unsuccessful was this was a dry run and now have the contacts who can help guide me. The bank personnel were very helpful and I have their cell/mobile numbers which I will contact hopefully in the next couple of weeks. The Dubai trip as trips go was not that expensive and I think I could do a 4 day trip for less than $1K which I do think is money well spent for what this offers.
This may be a process as this announcement was made only 2 days ago so I am not sure when all the extra regulation procedures end for South Africa. Maybe this is with immediate effect or from next month only. I need to take this opportunity and not wait because I know South Africa could be back on this list at any time in the future. Once the account is open it is open and I should be in the clear from then on. This will be more of a relief and bring an end to a journey that has seen so many curve balls thrown at me of late. Just maybe my luck is turning because one cannot be receiving bad news after bad news continuously.