Pakistan remains in Grey List of FATF

New Delhi, June 25: Pakistan continues to remain on the Paris-based 'Grey List' of the FATF ( Financial Action Task Force) as Islamabad hasn't been able to convince the global anti-money laundering watchdog that it has completely ended terror financing on its soil.

The FATF also said that Pakistan should continue to work to address its strategically-important deficiencies.

Financial Action Task Force (FATF) president Marcus Pleyer said the decision has been taken at the conclusion of the virtual plenary of the Paris-based organisation.

Pakistan continues to remain on "increased monitoring list", Pleyer said at a virtual press conference.

"Increased monitoring list" is the another name for the ''Grey List''.

Pleyer said Pakistan has now completed 26 of the 27 action items given to it 2018.

The FATF has asked Pakistan to take action against UN designated terrorists, he said.

The UN designated terrorists based in Pakistan include Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Azhar, Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Saeed and its ''operational commander'' Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi.Azhar, Saeed and Lakhvi are most wanted terrorists in India for their involvement in numerous terrorist acts, including 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and bombing of a CRPF bus at Pulwama in Jammu and Kashmir in 2019.

Pleyer said the Pakistan government has failed to check risk of money laundering, leading to corruption and terror financing,

"The FATF encourages Pakistan to continue to make progress to address as soon as possible the one remaining Combating the Financing of Terrorism (CFT)-related item by demonstrating that Terror Financing (TF) investigations and prosecutions target senior leaders and commanders of UN designated terrorist groups," an FATF statement said.

Currently placed on the FATF''s ''grey list'', Pakistan has been scrambling in recent months to avoid being added to a list of countries deemed non-compliant with anti-money laundering and terrorist financing regulations by the global watchdog, a measure that officials here fear could further hurt its economy.

Azhar, Saeed and Lakhvi are most wanted terrorists in India for their involvement in numerous terrorist acts, including the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and the 2019 bombing of a CRPF bus in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama.

Until this last meeting, Pakistan had implemented 24 points. The FATF had placed Pakistan on the grey list in June 2018, urging Islamabad to implement a 27-point action plan to curb money laundering and terror financing by the end of 2019. However, the deadline was extended due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In February, the FATF gave a fourth extension to Pakistan to fully implement a 27-point action plan and "strongly urged" it to meet the remaining three conditions about terror financing investigations and the United Nations Security Council resolutions.

Against the government's hopes of exiting the grey list, the FATF plenary found the country's progress on three out of the remaining six points less than satisfactory. Pakistan would remain on the grey list till June 2021, a statement issued by the FATF from Paris had said.

Pakistan was placed on the "Grey List" by the FATF in June, 2018 and was given a plan of action to be completed by October, 2019. Since then the country continues to be on that list due to its failure to comply with the FATF mandates.

The FATF is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 to combat money-laundering, terror-financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.

It currently has 39 members, including two regional organisations -- the European Commission and the Gulf Cooperation Council.

India is a member of the FATF consultations and its Asia Pacific Group.