The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), on Friday, decided to keep Pakistan on the greylist for another four months till June 2022, it was announced after the FATF Plenary held from March 1 to 4.
The United Arab Emirates is set for inclusion on the global watchdog’s “grey list”, alongside Turkey, Iran, and Pakistan, after the FATF plenary indicated that the Gulf nation hadn’t made enough progress in tackling illicit financial flows, as per sources.
An official statement from the financial watchdog’s report read,
FATF encourages Pakistan to continue to make progress to address, as soon as possible, the one remaining item by continuing to demonstrate that TF investigations and prosecutions target senior leaders and commanders of UN-designated terrorist groups.
In response to additional deficiencies later identified in Pakistan’s 2019 APG Mutual Evaluation Report (MER), Pakistan provided further high-level commitment to address these strategic deficiencies pursuant to a new action plan that primarily focuses on combating money laundering in June 2021, according to the FATF plenary.
“Since June 2021, Pakistan has taken swift steps towards improving its AML/CFT regime and completed 6 of the 7 action items ahead of any relevant deadlines expiring, including by demonstrating that it is enhancing the impact of sanctions by nominating individuals and entities for UN designation and restraining and confiscating proceeds of crime in line with Pakistan’s risk profile. Pakistan should continue to work to address the one remaining item in its 2021 action plan by demonstrating a positive and sustained trend of pursuing complex ML investigations and prosecutions,” it said.
The FATF Plenary was attended by delegates representing 206 members of the Global Network and observer organizations, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the United Nations, and the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units, under the German Presidency of Dr. Marcus Pleyer.
Energy Minister Hammad Azhar took to Twitter to offer his two cents on the FATF announcement. “Pakistan is now just 2 items away from completing both its FATF action plans,” he said.
Pakistan is now just 2 items away from completing both its FATF action plans.
ML Action Plan: 6 out of 7 items addressed within an unprecedented timeframe.
TF Action Plan: 26 out of 27 items addressed. A number of countries believe that we have already completed this plan. 1/2
— Hammad Azhar (@Hammad_Azhar) March 4, 2022
“Pakistan’s completion of FATF technical parameters shall be acknowledged soon, despite challenges. Our fight against ML & TF continues with unwavering national resolve. We wage war on these activities not just for global compliances but first & foremost for our own sake,” he added.
To recall, Pakistan has been on the FATF’s grey list for deficiencies in its counter-terror financing and anti-money laundering regimes since June 2018.
Being on the grey list, Pakistan’s economy lost a total of $13.43 billion from 2012 to 2015 and $10.31 billion in 2018 and 2019.
