FATF decides to keep Pakistan on its grey list till June 2021

ISLAMABAD (92 News) – The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has decided to keep Pakistan on its grey list till June 2021.

The announcement was made by FATF President Dr Marcus Pleyer at a press briefing on the outcomes of the FATF's four-day virtual plenary meeting.

Pakistan performed excellently with Counter Finance Terrorism and a anti-money laundering under a concerted strategy.

"Pakistan's law enforcement agencies not only pointed out terror financing but also took action against them after scrutiny. Pakistan worked excellently on 24 points, out of 27. Pakistan not only stopped shifting of assets but seized them," it added.

To a question by an Indian journalist about prosecution of terrorists in Pakistan, Pleyer clarified that the FATF was not an investigative organisation. "What we assess is the entire system of anti-money laundering [and] the framework. This does not change with incidents per se," he said.

The next meeting of the FATF will be held in June 2021.

Reacting to the FATF decision, Federal Minister for Industries Hammad Azhar said that Pakistan has completed almost 90% of its current FATF action-plan with 24 out of 27 items rated as 'largely addressed' and remaining three items 'partially addressed'. "FATF has acknowledged Pak's high level political commitment since 2018 that led to significant  progress."

He said that It was also noted by FATF member countries that Pakistan is subject to perhaps the most challenging and comprehensive action plan ever given to any country. "We are also subject to dual evaluation processes of FATF with differing time lines. Pakistan remains committed to complying with both FATF evaluation processes and I would like to commend the hard work done by dedicated teams in multiple government departments at the federal and provincial tiers," he concluded.