ISLAMABAD – Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Wednesday that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has no justification to keep Pakistan on its grey list as the latter had completed all technical requirements.
The foreign minister in a statement published by Radio Pakistan said, “We had been given twenty-seven action items; out of which work on twenty-six has been completed. He said vigorous work has also been done on the 27th point”.
Pakistan has taken solid measures to curb money laundering and terror financing, adding that India wants to use the platform for political purpose, but it should not be allowed for this.
The statement comes as five-day plenary session of the international watchdog is underway in Paris. The outcomes of the meeting will be published on Friday (June 25).
Earlier this month, the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) issued its second follow-up report, announcing that Pakistan has achieved a compliant rating in 31 out of 40 FATF recommendations.
Following the report, a statement issued by the finance ministry said, “These results prove the sincerity along with resolve of the Government in complying with FATF requirements”.
These results are also a manifestation of the irreversibility and sustainability of the complete process in bringing Pakistan at par with Global AML/CFT standards. These results are manifestation of a whole of government approach adopted to achieve the same.
An upgrade of 21 Recommendations within this short period of time remains unprecedented in FATF history.
FATF’s Mutual Evaluation Report (MER) of jurisdictions is assessed in two domains i.e., Technical Compliance/Legal Instruments (40 FATF Recommendations) and Demonstration of Effectiveness (11 Immediate Outcomes).
Pakistan’s MER was adopted in October 2019 in which Pakistan was rated compliant and largely complaint in 10 out of 40 FATF Recommendations for the Technical Compliance.
After adoption of MER, Pakistan was placed under Post Observation Period by FATF which expired in February 2021.
During the said period, Pakistan carried out major legal reforms with the enactment of 14 Federal Laws & 3 Provincial Laws along with relevant rules and regulations.
The laws not only strengthened the systems in Pakistan but also brought in the sustainability. Pakistan submitted its report to FATF on its Technical Compliance on 1st October 2020.
APG has acknowledged that Pakistan has made notable progress in addressing the Technical Compliance deficiencies identified in its MER and has been re-rated compliant /largely compliant in 31 out of 40 FATF Recommendations. Pakistan has also submitted re-rating requests to APG on four more recommendations in next follow-up report which are under review by APG.
