Paris: Pakistan is out of Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) grey list on Friday, with the global watchdog stating that Islamabad would continue to work with the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering to further improve its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) system.
FATF said it welcomes Pakistan’s significant progress in improving its AML/CFT regime.
The global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog said after its plenary here that Pakistan strengthened the effectiveness of its AML/CFT regime and addressed technical deficiencies to meet commitments of its action plans regarding strategic deficiencies that FATF identified.
Pakistan “is no longer subject to FATF’s increased monitoring process; to continue to work with APG to further improve its AML/CFT,” the watchdog said.
On the decision, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, “As a result of FATF scrutiny, Pakistan has been forced to take some action against well-known terrorists, including those involved in attacks against the entire international community in Mumbai on 26/11.”
“It is in global interest that the world remains clear that Pakistan must continue to take credible, verifiable, irreversible & sustained action against terrorism & terrorist financing emanating from territories under its control,” he added.
Pakistan has been on the FATF’s grey list for deficiencies in its counter-terror financing and anti-money laundering regimes since June 2018.
This greylisting has adversely impacted its imports, exports and remittances and limited its access to international lending. At the June plenary, FATF retained Pakistan on its grey list and had said a final decision to remove it from the list will be taken after an “on-site” verification visit. Later in September, a FATF team visited Pakistan.
The FATF had issued the 27-point action plan after placing Pakistan on the grey list in June 2018. The action plan pertained to curbing money laundering and terror financing.
This inclusion in the grey list serves as a warning to the country that it may enter the blacklist.
Pakistan was first put on the grey list in 2008, removed in 2009 and then again remained under increased monitoring from 2012 to 2015.
The FATF Plenary is the decision-making body of the FATF. It meets three times every year. Delegates representing 206 members of the Global Network and observer organisations, including the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations, the World Bank, INTERPOL and the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units, participated in the Working Group and Plenary meetings in Paris.
(With Agency Inputs)
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