FATF scrutinises Pakistan's compliance report

ISLAMABAD: The FATF’s Asia Pacific Group in its face-to-face meeting on Monday scrutinised Pakistan’s compliance report on supervision of regulatory regime and investigation against outfits and persons involved in offences of terror-financing.

Pakistan’s 15-member delegation led by Minister for Economic Affairs Hammad Azhar defended Pakistan’s compliance report on the first day of the FATF’s Asia Pacific Group meeting in Bangkok in which the compliance on Immediate Outcomes of 3 and 9 were analysed and overall Pakistani delegation performance went very well.

“Now the FATF’s Asia Pacific Group will scrutinise Pakistan’s performance on key issues related to terrorists, terrorist organisations and financiers for preventing from raising, moving and using funds and form abusing the non-profit organisations (NPO) such as NGOs sector in today (Tuesday) meeting,” top official sources confirmed to The News.

One top official, when contacted, said that Pakistan would tell all good things it had done in terms of taking over the assets and related investigation being carried out in case of terrorist outfits in last six months in order to ensure compliance on FATF requirements.

The FATF’s Asia Pacific Group face-to-face meeting will continue in Bangkok from September 9 to 13 and in the first two days Pakistan’s compliance report on 27-point action plan would come under discussion. Pakistani team led by Azhar attended the meeting and in his maiden speech, made a commitment that Pakistan would comply with all requirements of FATF.

The FATF’s Asia Pacific Group is comprised of 16 officials led by USA's Ms Christine and India’s five delegates are part of the team. Pakistani side had compressed 27-point action plan and prepared 11 immediate outcomes (IOs) to ensure its compliance on FATF requirements. In Monday’s meeting Pakistan defended its stance on IO 3 and IO 9.

Under Immediate outcome 3, Pakistan is required to supervise, monitor and regulate financial institutions for compliance with AML/CFT requirements commensurate with their risks.

Under Immediate outcome 9, Pakistan is required to take action against terrorist financing offences and activities investigated and persons who finance terrorism are prosecuted and subjected to effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions.

In today’s meeting, the Immediate Outcome 8 related to proceeds and instrumentalities of crime are confiscated will come under discussion. Under Immediate Outcome 10, Pakistan will apprise about its action against terrorists, terrorist organisations and financiers who are prevented from raising, moving and using funds, and form abusing the non-profit organisations (NPO) such as NGOs sector.

The FATF placed Pakistan on grey list in June 2018 and came up with a 27-point action plan for graduating it within a one-year period. Pakistan has been given a deadline of October 2019 and now Islamabad had submitted its compliance report on the 27-point action plan and is hoping that the FATF would not place it on the blacklist in its upcoming meeting scheduled to be held in Paris from October 14 to 18, 2019.

Originally published in The News