By News Desk
ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Wednesday passed five bills related to compliance with Financial Action Task Force (FATF) recommendations in what the federal law minister characterised as a “historic day”.
The bills passed by the Lower House were the Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Bill, 2020; the Limited Liability Partnership (Amendment) Bill, 2020; the Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2020; the Control of Narcotic Substances (Amendment) Bill, 2020; and the Islamabad Capital Territory Trust Bill, 2020.
“It is a historic day that the FATF-related legislation is being carried out today with consensus in the larger interest of the country,” law minister Farogh Naseem said on the floor of the House, state media reported. “Whitening the economy and checking terror financing is important to take the country forward on the path of development.”
Of particular note, the Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Bill aims to enhance the implementation of the government’s orders under the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997 and the United Nations (Security Council) Act, 1948. It seeks to extend the scope of penalties to those who are involved in terrorism in any manner outside the boundaries of the country. In addition, it seeks to provide legal powers to law enforcement agencies for speedy trial and disposal of cases among other things. Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said terror financing and money laundering are a “menace that Pakistan has to confront and eradicate”. He added that long deliberations were held with opposition parties to reach a consensus on the FATF-related legislation. He said the positive suggestions of the opposition were “honestly incorporated”.
Another noteworthy bill is the Control of Narcotic Substances (Amendment) Bill, 2020. It seeks to address what the FATF described as a “minor deficiency in Section 12 of Control of Narcotics Substances (CNS Act 1997), that it restricts the acts of concealment or disguise by making false declaration”. The scope / applicability of the said section has been confined to “making false declaration with regard to ownership, source, location or true nature of assets”.
The Limited Liability Partnership (Amendment) Bill 2020 has suggested various amendments to Limited Liability Partnership Act 2017 to ensure compliance with the recommendations on anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism issued by the FATF. ]
The Companies (Amendment) Bill 2020 has also suggested various amendments to Companies Act 2017 to ensure compliance with the recommendations of the FATF.
The APG highlighted certain deficiencies including lack of explicit prohibition on issuance of bearer shares or bearer share warrants, lack of obligations for companies to hold beneficial ownership information, etc. The proposed amendments are being made to ensure compliance with FATF’s recommendation aimed at enhancing the transparency of legal persons, to fulfil the recommended actions and to enhance the country’s ranking against the aforesaid standards.
The Islamabad Capital Territory Trust Bill, 2020 aimed to enhance the effectiveness of the implementation of the orders passed by the federal government to cater effective administration and financial monitoring and evaluation of the trusts relating to registration, administration and monitoring of trusts registered within the territorial limits of Islamabad Capital Territory.
