FATF compliance: Govt spurs efforts to deter money laundering

To comply with the conditions of the Financial Action Task Force, the federal government has expedited its FATF action plan and has registered more than 200 cases of money laundering, reported 24NewsHD TV channel.

Sources told 24NewsHD on Tuesday that the federal government was zeroing in on money laundering cases in federal capital as well as in all four federating units. The Federal Board of Revenue has booked the largest number of people in money laundering cases. 

Sources say the authorities have extended the scope of money laundering investigation. The investigation on the suspicious reports which were submitted by the financial management unit has been accelerated. 

The next session of the FATF will be held in February 2022. 

In October, the Financial Action Task Force kept Pakistan on its increased monitoring list, or grey list.

Announcing the decision, FATF President Dr Marcus Pleyer said that Pakistan had to complete two concurrent action plans with a total of 34 items.

"It has now addressed or largely addressed 30 of the items," he said adding that "Its most recent action plan from June this year, which largely focused on money laundering deficiencies, was issued after the FATF's regional partner — the Asia Pacific Group — identified a number of serious issues. Overall, Pakistan is making good progress on this new action plan. Four out of the seven action plan items are now addressed or largely addressed."

Pakistan has been on the FATF’s increased monitoring list, also known as the grey list, for deficiencies in its counter-terror financing and anti-money laundering regimes since June 2018.

Pleyer said that this thing showed that financial supervisors were conducting on-site and off-site checking on non-financial sector businesses and enacting legislative amendments to improve international cooperation.

Commenting on the action plan issued in 2018 which focused on terror financing, the FATF president said that Pakistan was still assessed to have largely addressed 26 out of 27 items. "Pakistan has taken number of important steps but needs to further demonstrate that investigations and prosecutions are being pursued against senior leadership of UN designated terror groups," he said.

To a question regarding an Indian minister's claims that the Modi government had ensured that Pakistan remained on the 'grey list', Dr Pleyer said that the FATF is a technical body and "we take our decisions by consensus, so it's not only one country that makes decisions."

Reporter Waqas Azeem