FATF to meet on Oct 21 to announce grey list updates

October 18, 2021: The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) will meet to discuss and announce updates on jurisdictions currently under the increased monitoring list often referred to as the grey list, the intra-government watchdog announced on Monday.

“A FATF hybrid plenary meeting is taking place this week. Issues being discussed include updates to the jurisdictions under increased monitoring list (often referred to as the FATF grey list); next steps to strengthen the FATF’s standards on transparency of beneficial ownership; and finalizing key reports, including revised guidance on virtual assets and their service providers,” the FATF said in a press release.

Pakistan has been on the FATF’s increased monitoring list since June 2018. The country has been lauded for the progress made on its strategic deficiencies.

The country’s Law Minister Farogh Naseem last week said that the country has done everything to get off the FATF’s grey list while adding that the country is now a test case for the fairness of the money laundering watchdog.

Authorities in Pakistan have said that the FATF is caving into international politics and has continued to ignore the efforts taking by the government to mitigate anti-money laundering and countering terror financing.

Meanwhile, the FATF while announcing the outcome of its June 25 plenary had said that Pakistan has made progress to address a number of the recommended actions in the Mutual Evaluation Report but should continue to work to address its strategically important AML/CFT deficiencies.

The outcomes of the FATF Plenary will be published on Thursday 21 October, at the close of the meeting.

Press Release