FATF retains Pakistan on 'grey list' for terror funding & money laundering

Islamabad, Jun 18: Global financial watchdog, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has said that Pakistan will continue to stay on its 'grey list' and a final decision to remove it from the list will be taken after an "on-site" verification visit by the Paris-based body.

This decision was announced yesterday after the conclusion of the four-day FATF plenary in Berlin, where delegates from governments around the world and partner organizations, including the UN and IMF discussed key money laundering and terrorist financing issues.

The FATF in a statement said, at its June 2022 Plenary, the Global financial watchdog made the initial determination that Pakistan has substantially completed its two action plans, covering 34 items, and warrants an on-site visit to verify that the implementation of Pakistan's anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) reforms has begun and is being sustained, and that the necessary political commitment remains in place to sustain implementation and improvement in the future.

Addressing the media at the conclusion of the plenary, FATF president Marcus Pleyer said that the FATF will now conduct an on-site visit to "check" that the reforms undertaken by Islamabad are in place and can be sustained into the future.

It said, the FATF will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation and conduct an on-site visit at the earliest possible date.

Pakistan has been on the grey list of Paris-based global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog for deficiencies in its counter-terror financing and anti-money laundering regimes since June 2018. This greylisting has adversely impacted its imports, exports, remittances, and limited access to international lending.