150-page questionnaire: FATF asks Pakistan to submit reply by 31st

ISLAMABAD: The Asia Pacific Group (APG) has asked Pakistan to submit replies on 150 pages of technical compliance questionnaires with deadline of August 31, 2018 mainly related to extradition treaties signed with different countries and possibility of revision with inclusion of offences of money laundering and terror financing in revised format.

They also demanded of Pakistan to ensure documentation of all kinds of financial transactions and charities to curb activities of prescribed militant organisations. The response on technical compliance questionnaire will determine the basis of detailed review scheduled to be held from October 8 to 20, 2018 here at Islamabad.

The APG also demanded of identifying network of terrorist organisations, structures and commands & control systems and fund raising data with solid evidence that could be produced in any court of law for granting maximum punishments to those involved in such crimes.

On the name of enhancing international cooperation, the extradition treaties with revised format will help extraditing elements involved in money laundering and terror financing. Now the PTI-led coming government will have to make changes in legislation in months ahead with approval of the Parliament.

“The technical compliance annexure questionnaires, a detailed document of almost 150 pages and comprising of hundreds of questions, have been handed over to Pakistan with the deadline to submit all replies to APG till August 31, 2018. Now the next APG mission is scheduled to visit Islamabad from October 8, 2018 for conducting detailed review on the basis of replies going to submit by Islamabad by end of this ongoing month,” top official sources confirmed to The News here on Thursday.

The APG delegation has clearly conveyed that undocumented charities will have to be brought into digitized transaction system that could be tracked down by regulators as well as law enforcing agencies to identify elements involved into money laundering and terror financing.

The 6 member delegation of APG of Financial Action Task Force (FATF) concluded its three days visit on Thursday in which the APG mission pointed out loopholes in legislative, administrative and operational matters and recommended way forward by ensuring documentation of transactions of real estate, jewelers, chartered accountants, charities and all others with the purpose to discourage cash economy and bring them all into digital financial systems.

Pakistani side briefed the APG delegation that the different institutions and law enforcing agencies established coordination within different ministries and among the center and provinces and made all out efforts to convince the visiting team that all mechanism were in place to combat terror financing.

It was decided that the APG delegation would again visit Pakistan from October 8 to 20, 2018 to analyse the given replies in details and evaluate commitments made by Islamabad to bring changes in legislation, administrative and operational improvements.

The way forward on which Pakistani side and APG delegation agreed upon including creation of implementation cell in each department, Counter Terrorism Departments (CTDs) to recruit specialists, strengthening prosecution and judiciary, leads for terrorism from Afghanistan may be found, institutional mechanism for whole government to be developed, proactive approach for investigation and prosecution of terror financing (TF), action against JWD, FIF, HQ, Taliban and ISIS.