The Financial Action Task Force has decided to keep Pakistan on its increased monitoring list for another extended period after it failed to meet two targets and has asked Pakistan to comply with the remaining deficiencies as soon as possible.
However, at the concluding session, the global money-laundering and terrorist-financing watchdog appreciated the efforts undertaken by the government of Pakistan to fight financial crimes.
FATF noted that Pakistan had completed 26 out of 27 action items in its 2018 action plan.
Appreciating the swift measures taken by Pakistan to reach 6 out of 7 demands of the watchdog’s Asia Pacific Group well 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.
“In response to additional deficiencies later identified in Pakistan’s 2019 APG Mutual Evaluation Report (MER), in June 2021, Pakistan provided further high-level commitment to address these strategic deficiencies pursuant to a new action plan that primarily focuses on combating money laundering,” the report said.
It should be noted that Pakistan was added to the list of countries that needed increased monitoring for their financial policies regarding money-laundering and terror financing in 2018. Since then, Pakistan has been making significant progress in meeting the demands of the global watchdog.
The FATF added the United Arab Emirates too to the grey list for its inadequate controls over terrorism financing.
The United Arab Emirates has entered the FATF’s Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring list, often referred to as the 'grey list', following the conclusion of the FATF Plenary. See the full update here➡️https://t.co/cuEK8iKyJY #FollowTheMoney pic.twitter.com/u6gVWHUKJo
— FATF (@FATFNews) March 4, 2022
