Pakistan sees positive outcome of FATF meeting

ISLAMABAD: The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is scheduled to meet this week, from June 14 to 17, 2022, in Berlin (Germany) where the fate of Pakistan will be decided about its exclusion from the grey list or extension for another period of a few months with the existing status.

Pakistani authorities are quite hopeful and they are expecting a positive outcome from the plenary meeting. When contacted, a top Pakistani functionary on Sunday said, “We have good hopes for now. We believe that our progress is substantial and has been appreciated by various members. However, the actual decision will be taken in the meeting where a number of countries will comment on our progress. So let’s hope for the best”.

When the official was asked that prior to excluding Pakistan from grey list, whether the FATF would send its team for onsite inspection to gauge the performance of the country, the official replied that yes, if the country is cleared all points, there will be an onsite visit and then removal from the grey list will be done.

According to FATF’s announcement, the delegates representing 206 members of the Global Network and observer organisations, including the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations, the World Bank and the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units, will take part in the last plenary under the two-year German Presidency of Dr Marcus Pleyer from 14-17 June 2022. The German government will host this hybrid event in Berlin, with a significant number of participants taking part in person.

During the four days of meetings, delegates will finalise key issues, including a report to prevent money laundering through the real estate sector and a report that will help financial institutions use collaborative analytics, data collection and other sharing initiatives to assess and mitigate the money laundering and terrorist financing risks they face.

Delegates will also discuss the assessments of measures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing in Germany and the Netherlands, and the progress made by some jurisdictions identified as presenting a risk to the financial system. The outcomes of the FATF Plenary will be published on Friday 17 June after the close of the meeting.