Pak team off to Bangkok for FATF meeting

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s 15-member delegation led by Minister for Economic Affairs Hammad Azhar has reached Bangkok for attending four-day meeting of FATF’s Asia/Pacific Joint Group face-to-face meeting for gauging Islamabad’s performance on 27-point action plan.

On the basis of this performance report, the FATF’s final meeting going to be held next month will take decision about the country’s fate to exclude it from grey list. Pakistan had so far managed to foil all efforts of Indian lobby to put Pakistan on FATF’s blacklist. Now the ongoing and then next meeting are quite crucial to get positive results.

“Pakistan has submitted its compliance report on FATF’s 27-point action and in this upcoming face-to-face meeting, they will scrutinise the country’s performance before taking place of final review meeting that is scheduled for next month in Paris,” top official sources confirmed to The News here on Sunday.

There are apprehension that the country might be placed on grey list for another year and placed increased action plan but Pakistani authorities argued they had done all kind of spadework in last one year so Islamabad deserves to come out from grey list.

This ongoing scheduled face-to-face meeting in Bangkok will take place from September 9 to 13, 2019 for reviewing compliance report of Pakistan, Cambodia and Mangolia. The first face-to-face meeting on Pakistan’s progress report is scheduled to be held today (Monday) in Bangkok in the afternoon session. In the second day of the meeting on Tuesday, Pakistan’s report would further be discussed especially related to immediate outcomes of 8th and 10th points.

The FATF had put Pakistan on grey list in June 2018 and they placed 27-point action plan for graduating in one year. Pakistan has been given deadline of September 2019 and now Islamabad submitted its compliance on 27-point action plan and is hoping that the FATF would not place it on blacklist in its upcoming meeting scheduled to be held at Paris from Oct 14 to 18.

Pakistani authorities prepared 11 immediate outcomes out of total 27 points on which the FATF would review progress report and would take decision about Pakistan for excluding it from grey list.

The IOs included (1): Money laundering and terrorist financing risks are understood and, where appropriate, action must be coordinated domestically to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism and proliferation.

Immediate outcome 2: International cooperation delivers appropriate information, financial intelligence and evidence, and facilitates action against criminal and their assets.

Immediate outcome 3: Supervisors appropriately supervise, monitor and regulate financial institutions for compliance with AML/CFT requirements commensurate with their risks.

Immediate outcome 4: Financial institutions and DNFBPs adequately apply AML/CFT preventive measures commensurate with their risks, and report suspicious transaction.

Immediate outcome 5: Legal persons and arrangements are prevented from misuse for money laundering or terrorist financing and information on their beneficial ownership is available to competent authorities without impediments.

Immediate outcome 6: Financial intelligence and all other relevant information are appropriately used by competent authorities for money laundering and terrorist financing investigations.

Immediate outcome 7: Money laundering offence and activities are investigated and offenders are prosecuted.

Immediate outcome 8: Proceeds and instrumentalities of crime are confiscated.

Immediate outcome 9: Terrorist financing offences and activities are investigated and persons who finance terrorism are prosecuted and subjected to effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions.

Immediate outcome 10: Terrorists, terrorist organisations and financiers are prevented from raising, moving and using funds, and form abusing the non-profit organisations (NPO) such as NGOs sector.

Immediate outcome 11: Persons and entities involved in proliferations are prevented from raising, moving and using funds in accordance with the relevant United Nations Security Council resolutions.