No Relief For Pakistan, To Stay In FATF Grey List

Pakistan will continue to remain on the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) increased monitoring list, also known as the ‘grey list,’ till February 2022 as it has failed to curb terror financing of UN proscribed terrorists living on its soil.

The Paris-based financial watchdog called on Islamabad to address deficiencies related to anti-money laundering and combat financing of terrorism. Pakistan has been on the FATF’s increased monitoring list since June 2018. FATF announced the decision at a press conference on Thursday after the culmination of its three-day hybrid plenary that began on October 19.

The delegates discussed key issues in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing in the plenary.

FATF President Dr Marcus Pleyer said that Pakistan had to complete two concurrent action plans with a total of 34 items. “It has now addressed or largely addressed 30 of the items,” he said.

The FATF has been examining how data pooling and collaborative analytics can be used to tackle money laundering and terrorist financing.

FATF plenary took place under the German Presidency of Dr Marcus Pleyer and delegates representing 205 members of the Global Network and observer organisations including the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations and the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units.

The global financial watchdog asked Pakistan to address its strategically important deficiencies and provide evidence that it actively seeks to enhance the impact of sanctions beyond its jurisdiction by nominating additional individuals and entities for designation at the United Nations.

“Pakistan should continue to work to address its other strategically important AML/CFT deficiencies, namely by providing evidence that it actively seeks to enhance the impact of sanctions beyond its jurisdiction by nominating additional individuals and entities for designation at the UN; and demonstrating an increase in ML investigations and prosecutions and that proceeds of crime continue to be restrained and confiscated in line with Pakistan’s risk profile, including working with foreign counterparts to trace, freeze, and confiscate assets,” Pleyer said.

The FATF, in its last session in June, had kept Pakistan on the watchdog’s “increased monitoring list” till it addressed the single remaining item on the original action plan agreed to in June 2018 as well as all items on a parallel action plan given by the Asia Pacific Group — the FATF’s regional affiliate.

Pakistan was given a plan of action and a deadline to complete it by October 2019.

Recent targeted attacks by Pakistan-backed terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir expose the state-sponsored terrorism by Pakistan. (ANI)