FATF expresses satisfaction with Pakistan's anti-money laundering efforts
Pakistani officials briefed the FATF on fake bank accounts and suspected transactions.
ISLAMABAD (Dunya News) – The three-day dialogues between Pakistan and Financial Action Task Force (FATF) ended on Thursday.
During the three-day talks, Pakistan assured the FATF of stopping the money laundering and taking those involved in money laundering to logical end.
Pakistani officials also briefed the FATF on fake bank accounts and suspected transactions.
Following the dialogues, the FATF expressed satisfaction over Pakistan’s efforts and action plan to combat money laundering and terror financing under international obligations.
On Wednesday, Pakistan informed the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) that action was being carried out against the suspected transactions.
During the dialogues, Pakistani officials briefed the Financial Action Task Force s (FATF) Asia Pacific Group (APG) on money laundering and also presented a four year report on actions taken on suspected transactions.
The report stated that action had been taken against 3677 suspected transactions during the last four years. According to documents, there were 420 suspected transactions in 2015, 697 in 2016, 1603 in 2017 and 957 in 2018.
The report also stated that action was being taken against fake bank accounts. The final round of talks between Pakistan and FATF would be held on Thursday January 10.
On Tuesday, Pakistani authorities briefed the FATF of the action taken against terrorists and banned organizations. They told Asia Pacific Group that accounts and assets of banned outfits have been frozen. “Pakistan is utilizing all its resources to impede financial assistance of terrorists,” asserted the authorities. FATF was also informed of the steps taken against Al-Qaeda, Daesh and banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
A twelve-member Pakistani delegation headed by federal finance secretary is participating in the meeting. The negotiations between Pakistan and FATF will continue until January 10. It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan is committed to implement FATF’s 27 recommendations by the end of September this year.
FATF has given Pakistan six more months to step up money laundering measures and de-list Islamabad from its grey list. Currently placed on the FATF’s grey list, Pakistan has been scrambling in recent months to avoid being added to a list of countries deemed non-compliant with anti-money laundering and terrorist financing regulations by the Paris-based group, a measure that officials here fear could further hurt its economy.
Pakistan was placed on the grey list by the FATF in June 2018 for failing to curb anti-terror financing.
In August 2018, the APG as part of the pre-site mutual evaluation identified a series of deficiencies in Pakistan’s anti-money laundering or counter-terror financing (AML/CFT) laws and mechanisms. The report was sent to Pakistan with recommendations.
In response, Pakistan has provided details of measures taken in compliance with the recommendations. On October 5 last year, Pakistan received another technical compliance annexure from the APG which further highlighted deficiencies in the AML/CFT measures that Islamabad needs to take.
