Summary FBR has strengthened oversight of designated non-financial businesses and professions under anti-money laundering rules, revising officers’ jurisdiction and expanding monitoring arrangements nationwi
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – The Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) has strengthened its regulatory framework for monitoring designated non-financial businesses and professions (DNFBPs) as part of efforts to counter money laundering and terrorist financing across Pakistan.
The tax authority has amended the DNFBPs Regulations 2020 under the anti-money laundering framework and revised the jurisdiction and responsibilities of officers responsible for regulatory supervision, according to a notification issued by the FBR.
The changes are intended to make monitoring more structured by clearly allocating geographical and administrative responsibilities among officials dealing with DNFBPs.
Under the revised arrangement, the Director General DNFBPs will exercise supervisory jurisdiction across Pakistan, while directors, additional directors, deputy and assistant directors and inspectors have been assigned responsibilities for monitoring within specified jurisdictions.
The regulatory framework covers designated businesses and professions falling within the applicable AML regime. These can include dealers in precious metals and stones and certain professionals and service providers when carrying out activities covered by the relevant law and regulations.
The strengthened mechanism is intended to improve scrutiny of transactions and compliance obligations aimed at identifying potential money laundering and terrorist financing risks.
Under the new jurisdictional structure, Islamabad-based supervision will cover DNFBP cases falling within the Large Taxpayers Office Islamabad, Regional Tax Office Rawalpindi and relevant areas of Gilgit-Baltistan.
In Karachi, the supervisory framework will cover cases associated with the Large Taxpayers Office, corporate tax offices and relevant regional tax offices.
The Lahore jurisdiction will have a considerably wider geographical footprint, covering Lahore as well as cases relating to Sialkot, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Sargodha, Multan, Sahiwal and Bahawalpur.
Cases falling under the Regional Tax Office Quetta will be supervised under the relevant Balochistan jurisdiction.
In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the framework will cover cases associated with the Peshawar and Abbottabad regional tax offices.
The FBR has distributed supervisory responsibilities among different officers but retained flexibility to assign a specific charge to an officer when required.
The revised framework is expected to strengthen accountability by establishing clearer lines of responsibility for regulatory oversight. Defining which officials are responsible for particular jurisdictions could also make it easier to identify gaps in supervision and ensure follow-up on compliance issues.
