Pakistan remains in grey list of FATF despite significant progress

Pakistan remains in grey list of FATF despite significant progress.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on Thursday decided to keep Pakistan on its grey list.

FATF President Dr Marcus Pleyer announced, while addressing a press briefing from Paris.

Pakistan remains in grey list of FATF

He shared outcomes of the FATF’s four-day virtual plenary meeting.

He further said that the FATF would review Pakistan’s status at an extraordinary plenary session in June 2021.

Pakistan will remain under increased monitoring.

However, Marcus said although Pakistan made significant progress, yet some serious deficiencies in mechanisms to plug terrorism financing remain.

Now, Pakistan need to fully address three out of 27 points.

He was referring to the action plan which Pakistan had agreed to.

The FATF president said that Pakistan has made progress but we strongly urge completion of the plan.

Moreover, he said Pakistan must improve their investigations and prosecutions of all groups and entities financing terrorists and their associates and show [that] penalties by courts are effective.

He said that as soon as Pakistan shows it has completed these items, FATF will verify and members of FATF will vote.

Meanwhile, an Indian journalist raised the question about prosecution of terrorists in Pakistan.

However, Pleyer made clear that the FATF not an investigative organisation.

He further clarified that what we assess is the entire system of anti-money laundering [and] the framework.

This does not change with incidents per se, he said.

Pakistan working towards commitment

He further noted that Pakistan was working towards its commitment made at a high level to implement the illicit financing watchdog’s recommendations.

The FATF president said it not the time to put a country on the blacklist.

A journalist questioned about India’s alleged funding of terrorism.

However, he declined to comment on specific incidents, reiterating that the watchdog was not an investigative agency.

Meanwhile, Minister Hammad Azhar said that Pakistan has made almost 90 percent completion of the action plan.

GTV