FATF once again retains Pakistan on grey list

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on Thursday announced that it is retaining Pakistan on the grey list.

President Dr Marcus Pleyer is addressing a post-plenary conference. Dr Pleyer announced that Pakistan remains on the "increased monitoring list".

According to the president, Pakistan has two concurrent action plans with a total of 34 action plan items. "It has now addressed, or largely addressed 30 of the items," he said.

"It's most recent action plan from June this year which largely focused on money laundering deficiencies was issued after FATF's regional partner APG (Asian Pacific Group) identified a number of serious issues.

Overall, Pakistan is making "good progress" on the new action plan, he said, adding that of the 7 new items, four have been "addressed or largely addressed".

He said this includes showing that financial supervisors are conducting on-site and off-site checks on non-financial sector businesses and inacting legislative amendments to improve international cooperation.

Dr Pleyer also spoke of Pakistan's earlier action plan, dating back to June 2018, and which focuses on terrorist financing issues, "Pakistan is still assessed to have largely addressed 26 out of 27 items".

He said Pakistan still needs to demonstrate investigations and prosecutions are being pursued against the senior leadership of UN designated terror groups.

"I thank the Pakistani government for their continued strong commitment to this process."

The FATF held a meeting in Paris which began on October 19 and concludes today, October 21.

As per reports, the task force reviewed the Asia Pacific Group's report on Pakistan's compliance with the watchdog's prescribed action items.

It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan has been on the FATF’s increased monitoring list, known as the grey list, since June 2018.

During the meeting, the global watchdog finalised key reports, including the revised guidance on virtual assets and their service providers, and discussed the next steps to strengthen its standards on transparency of beneficial ownership.

source https://www.suchtv.pk/pakistan/general/item/108915-fatf-once-again-retains-pakistan-on-grey-list.html