The Asia-Pacific Group on Wednesday adopted Pakistan’s mutual evaluation report and has identified a number of deficiencies in the country’s anti-money laundering and combating terror financing framework.
APG highlighted that the report by Pakistan does not cover the areas in which the government has made substantial progress since October 2018. A senior-level delegation from Pakistan, headed by Governor State Bank of Pakistan Dr Reza Baqir, attended the meeting in Canberra, Australia. The MER covers the period from February to October 2018 and identifies a number of areas where further actions are required to strengthen he AML/CFT framework.
Financial Action Task Force has already grey-listed Pakistan with effect from June 2018 and any adverse findings by the APG – as a result of its March 26-28 inspections – could further complicate problems for the government.
The APG is the FATF-style regional body for the Asia-Pacific region. It is an inter-governmental organisation founded in 1997 in Bangkok. The mutual evaluation process by the APG is separate from the FATF but it is based on the implementation of 40 FATF recommendations.Staff Reporter
Islamabad
