Pakistan to stay on the 'grey list' till FATF on-site visit

Pakistan to stay on the 'grey list' till Financial Action Task Force's on-site visit, the global body said on Friday (June 17) during a four-day plenary session of the FATF underway in Berlin, Germany. FATF said that the South Asian nation completed the 34 items on the watchdog's list. The announcement means that the country might exit the so-called 'grey list'. FATF is an international organisation that coordinates global efforts to crack down on money laundering and terrorism financing.

A statement from the FATF read: "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 AML/CFT reforms has begun and is being sustained."

FATF said that since June 2018, Pakistan made a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and APG to strengthen its anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regime. As per the organisation, the country has also made efforts to address the strategic counter-terrorist financing-related deficiencies.

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After the announcement, the country's State Minister for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar congratulated Pakistan. She tweeted, "[international] community has unanimously [acknowleged] our efforts. Our success is the result of 4 years of challenging journey." She also heads the country's National FATF Coordination Committee.

WATCH |What is FATF, and why Pakistan has been struggling to get out of its ‘Grey List'

Meanwhile, the leadership of Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) is claiming that the 'victory' is the result of its efforts. PTI is the former ruling party of the country under Imran Khan.

Former Prime Minister Khan tweeted, "Pak was nominated for grey listing by FATF in Feb 2018 & had to complete the most challenging action plan ever given to any jurisdiction."

"When my govt took over, we faced dire prospect of Blacklisting by that body. Our past compliance history with FATF was also not favourable," he added.

Meanwhile, FATF added Gibraltar to its watchlist of countries subject to increased monitoring. The FATF also said it had removed Malta from the so-called "grey list" after seeing "significant progress". As per the global body, the decision over Malta was made especially over the detection of inaccurate company ownership information and "the pursuit of tax-based money laundering cases utilising financial intelligence".

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