Pakistani delegation reaches Paris for two-day FATF meeting

ISLAMABAD: A Pakistani delegation, headed by Economic Affairs Minister Hammad Azhar, reached Paris to attend a crucial two-day session of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) set to commence Monday in the French capital.

According to sources, the FATF meeting would discuss a report on the steps taken by Pakistan till April 2019 and a decision would be made on whether to exclude Islamabad from the intergovernmental organisation's grey list.

Also part of Pakistan's delegation were Additional Secretary Finance Sohail Rajput, as well as the representatives of the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA), Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP).

Also read: FATF to decide Pakistan's fate in its Paris meeting

Measures taken by Pakistan to prevent terrorist financing will also be reviewed in the FATF meeting. As per Prime Minister's adviser on finance and revenue, Dr Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, Islamabad had completed 20 of the steps.

Sources, however, said Pakistan had already implemented most of the FATF measures, such as banning terrorist organisations. In addition, it had also taken steps to seize the properties of terrorists and stopped them from doing business.

How many FATF parameters has Pakistan complied with?

Earlier this month, the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) had published a report on money-laundering and terror-financing in Pakistan, wherein it said Islamabad had complied with 36 of the 40 parameters set by the FATF at the time of the country’s inclusion in the grey list.

Based on the technical compliance ratings, the APG report showed that Pakistan had fully complied with only one parameter, largely complied with nine, and partially complied with 26 of the 40 parameters.