SECP revises AML/CFT rules

ISLAMABAD: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) on Tuesday issued revised Anti Money Laundering and Counter Financial Terrorism (AML/CFT) Guidelines for Non-Profit Organisations (NPOs).

The new guidelines explicitly highlight the consequences of money laundering, terrorist financing, predicate crimes, and other abuses on the NPO sector, the commission said in a notification.

The AML/CFT guidelines for NPOs, firstly issued in September 2018 aimed at facilitating Section-42 companies with compliance with AML/CFT regulations 2018. The regulator said the amended version would provide NPO sector an improved understanding of risks of terrorist financing including transnational TF risk.

The new guidelines also explained some key concepts of terrorist financing, the commission said, adding they had also been included with major findings of Pakistan’s National Inherent Risk Assessment on money laundering and terrorism financing.

The revised guidelines have elaborated terrorist financing process including directions, sources and channels of terrorist financing; and updated the criteria for assessment of vulnerable or high-risk NPOs, it added.

The SECP said it had amended the guidelines to account for the evolving terrorist financing risks and further make the NPO sector aware of the best practices, good governance measures as well as the red flags to mitigate such risks.