Malik M Ashraf
FOREIGN Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on the eve of inauguration of development schemes in NA 156 expressed the hope that Pakistan would soon be on the white list of the FAFT. He said this while referring to the upcoming virtual interaction with FATFA plenary session scheduled to be held in Paris from October 21-23. His optimism was premised on the fact that Pakistan had taken adequate administrative and legislative measures against money laundering as well as his revelation that USA and some other countries are going to support Pakistan.
The review session of the FATF which was scheduled to be held in June was postponed giving Pakistan another four months to remove all the discrepancies pointed by FATF and have the opportunity to get out of the grey list which is hanging over the country like Sword of Damocles. It was indeed a welcome moratorium. In the mean time, Pakistan has been able to have the legislation passed against money-laundering and terror financing by Parliament in spite of tough resistance by the Opposition. The FATF in its plenary session on 21-23 October would determine whether Pakistan has been able to comply with the 13 outstanding benchmarks for fool proof arrangements against money laundering and terror financing or not.
It is pertinent to point out that placing Pakistan on the grey list of the FATF in June 2018 stemmed more from global politics rather than being purely an issue of lack of commitment on the part of Pakistan to curb the phenomenon of money laundering and terror financing. The decision was a sequel to the adoption of a resolution presented by USA and supported by its allied and other countries. It was very much expected in the backdrop of the nosedive in relations between Pakistan and USA since the announcement of the new Policy on South Asia and Afghanistan by President Donald Trump and its outright rejection by Pakistan. It was the most unfortunate development in view of the fact that Pakistan which had been the US ally since early fifties and had suffered the most in the war against terrorism remained a suspect in the eyes of the latter in regards to its indiscriminatory action against the terrorist outfits.
The reality was that Pakistan had been a sincere partner in the war on terror and had not only dismantled the infrastructure of all the terrorist outfits based on its territory including North Waziristan but was also faithfully engaged in eliminating the remnants of their supporters within the country. It had also taken all possible administrative and legal measures to check and block the sources of funding to the terrorist organizations. Pakistan had already promulgated a Presidential Ordinance to amend the anti-terror legislation in order to include all UN-listed individuals and groups in the national listings of proscribed outfits and persons. Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) also took measures in keeping with the FATF regulations and issued Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Regulations 2018. The government had also chalked out a comprehensive plan to eradicate terrorist financing which was shared with the international watch-dog. The FATF decision was actually reflective of the US rhetoric of ‘do more’. It was also indicative of how much influence US could exercise on world bodies like FATF. However, the kink in the relations between the two countries disappeared in the backdrop of Pakistan facilitating dialogue between US and Taliban, a role acknowledged and appreciated by President Trump and his Administration. It was due to this development that despite best Indian efforts during the Beijing and Paris meetings Pakistan could avoid being pushed into the blacklist because no member of the FATF including US and EU supported the Indian view. The outcome of these moots represented a major blow to the Indian diplomatic efforts to penalize Pakistan. However, Pakistan was not taken out of the grey list but was given another chance to fully comply with the action plans given by FATF by June 2020.
Pakistan during the previous meetings avoided being pushed into the black list also due to unstinted and persistent support extended by China, Turkey and Malaysia. According to the FATF regulations a country needs at least three votes for not being relegated to the black list and at least 12 votes for up-gradation to the white list. The FATF has 39 members. While Pakistan has focused on meeting the remaining 13 outstanding requirements of the FATF in the recent past and taken credible steps in that regard ever since her placement in the grey list it has also done intensive lobbying on the diplomatic front to win required support including that of the US. Pakistan is reported to have submitted its initial draft report to the joint group of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) showing progress and compliance on the remaining 13 points in August. It also shared its updated version of the progress report with the FATF review group in the first week of September demonstrating political will to comply with the demanded benchmarks.
This was followed by a virtual meeting with the FATF review group on September 14-21 in which Pakistan defended its position. Pakistan’s removal from the grey list and up-gradation to the white list is absolutely imperative in regards to getting financial support from the international lending agencies for financing its economic reform agenda and putting the country on the road to a sustained economic growth besides political gains on the international level. The positive vibes emanating from the previous meetings at Beijing and Paris indicate the success of the diplomatic efforts made by Pakistan. In view of the foregoing facts the optimism expressed by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmmod Qureshi is not misplaced. Pakistan genuinely hopes that things would have a positive outcome when Pakistan gets the chance in October to present its case before the FATF.
— The writer is freelance columnist based in Islamabad.
