The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has reportedly expressed satisfaction over Pakistan’s efforts to curb money laundering and terror financing in the country – to some extent.
A high-level delegation led by Finance Secretary, Arif Ahmed Khan, is currently in Sydney to attend a three-day FATF conference.
Pakistan’s delegation also includes members from State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA), Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) and Finance Monitoring Unit.
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An official from the finance ministry has revealed from the feedback received from Sydney that for the first time, Pakistan’s action plan has been appreciated by the FATF team.
“At the end of day two proceedings, most of the ten-point action has been reviewed,” the official said, adding that the financial task force has also suggested a few doable things before February’s next examination in Paris.
This would be followed by a broader inspection of Pakistan’s efforts to get rid of money laundering and terror financing in May, probably in Sri Lanka or Australia.
May’s meeting will decide whether Pakistan’s name would be removed from the greylist in September.
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The official further maintained that the FATF delegation had reviewed the report dispatched before the meeting. During the course of the meeting, questions were raised regarding the details and the task force team appeared to be satisfied with the briefing.
As per the report, Pak-Afghan and Pak-Iran borders are the main routes for terror-financing and money laundering. It adds that Pakistan has identified and blocked over 4,600 suspected transactions since 2015.
“A total of 1,167 transactions have been captured during 2018 alone, including 975 suspected transaction reports and 210 financial intelligence reports,” the report added.
The third and final round of the conference will conclude today, Thursday. After the conference, the FATF team will release its guidelines for Pakistan’s course of action until the next meeting.
