PESHAWAR: The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has decided to keep Pakistan on its gray list till June and urged Islamabad to complete the implementation of the remaining points of the action plan on prevention of money laundering and terror financing.
The FATF held a four-day virtual meeting in Paris from March 1 to 4 to consider the Asia-Pacific Group’s report on Pakistan. The meeting reviewed Islamabad’s five action plans – four relating to money laundering and one to terrorism financing. The forum said that Pakistan has completed the implementation of 26 out of 27 points of its 2018 action plan. The FATF also acknowledged that Pakistan has made significant progress in curbing terrorism financing.
FATF asked further expedite court cases related to money laundering and terror financing, and also called for action against UN-designated terrorist elements. The FATF is insisting on strict punishments in such cases.
The Financial Action Task Force has 37 members, comprising 25 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, China, India and Turkey, the Gulf Cooperation Council and the European Commission. To take steps to stop funding. It has added Pakistan to its gray list in 2018 and was provided several targets to clear the list. Federal minister Hamad Azhar has said that Pakistan has achieved most of its goals.
In June last year, when Pakistan was kept on the gray list, the PTI government had termed it “unjustified”. In a statement, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi had said: “I don’t think there is any justification for placing Pakistan on the gray list. We have to see if FATF is a technical forum or is it being used for political purposes?”
The PTI government has approved several amendments to its two laws – Anti-Terrorism Act of 1957 and the United Nations (Security Council) Act of 1948 – from the parliament to meet the condition of FATF.