FATF expresses satisfaction over Pakistani actions against terror financing

ISLAMABAD (92 News) – The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) expressed satisfaction over Pakistani actions against money laundering and terror financing during a meeting in Paris on Wednesday. According to the sources, Pakistan avoids blacklist as FATF acknowledged actions against terror financing in the meeting. The sources stated that Pakistan received applaud at the FATF meeting, eliminating the concerns of being dragged to the global body’s blacklist. Pakistan is currently on the grey list of the FATF and there would be no voting on removing the country from it as the grey list is enacted for a country for a period of two years. “Another review of Pakistan’s implementation on the 27 targets will be held at the anti-money laundering forum in October 2020,” the sources maintained. It added that India’s bid to drag Pakistan into the blacklist of the FATF was foiled and the member states of the body applauded the country’s efforts towards implementing on their recommendations on the 14 out of a total of 21 targets. During the review process, the member states remained satisfied over the actions taken by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP), Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU). “The FATF also expressed its satisfaction over the working of NACTA along with the steps taken towards carrying out legislation against the smuggling of dollars from the country.” A delegation of Pakistan led by Minister for Economic Affairs, Hammad Azhar, attended Paris session of the FATF. In the last session of the FATF, India had opposed removal of Pakistan from the grey list, while the United States and the European Union had backed Islamabad’s efforts in line with the FATF guidelines. China, Turkey and the Malaysia are already supporting Pakistan, while it is expected that Pakistan can get more support from the member countries due to its positive diplomacy. The FATF, an international watchdog that works to counter money laundering, may extend the duration of the ‘grey list’ it has placed Pakistan on for another six months to ensure the country gets enough time to adopt legislative measures to restructure its banking system in line with the best international practices. If Islamabad comes out of the ‘grey list’, it will be easy for the country to receive financial aid from international and multinational lenders such as the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, Asian Development Bank and the European Union on easy terms and conditions. Pakistan was placed on the ‘grey list’ by the Paris-based watchdog in June 2018 and was given a plan of action to complete by October 2019 or face the risk of being placed on the watchdog’s blacklist, along with Iran and North Korea.