FATF delegation to visit Pakistan in October

September 25, 2018: A delegation of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) will visit Pakistan in October to review the prevailing situation with regard to steps taken by the government.

The federal government and concerned departments have started preparing for the delegation’s visit.

A meeting of the policy board of Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has also been called to review matters ahead of the visit.

The SECP meeting will be chaired by the finance secretary and a nine-point agenda will come under discussion.

SECP has prepared a working paper against money laundering and terror financing which includes recommendations for measures to identify domestic and foreign transactions.

During its visit, the FATF delegation will put forth recommendations whether to remove Pakistan from its grey-list or to add it to the black list.

Last month, Finance Minister Asad Umar informed the Senate that the FATF had given Pakistan 15 months to comply with its requirements, with the deadline set to expire in September 2019.

The finance minister said the FATF delegation had traveled to Pakistan for a routine evaluation and the visit did not pertain to the greylist. “27 deficiencies have been identified by the FATF having to deal with currency smuggling, havala and terror financing of proscribed organisations,” he said.

According to Umar, a National Action Committee had been formed to deal with the issue.

In June, the FATF said Pakistan had made “a high-level political commitment” to work with the global watchdog and Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) to strengthen its anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) regime.

Pakistan was formally added to the grey list of countries involved in providing monetary assistance to terrorism and related causes after a June meeting of the FATF in Paris.

FATF, a global body that combats terror financing and money laundering, had taken the decision to place Pakistan on its grey list during a plenary meeting in February this year. The country was also included in the list from 2012 to 2015.