Pakistan '1 Step Away' from Exiting Watchdog FATF's 'Grey List' : Sources [Post#575]

[MenInG]

Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar on Saturday said the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) consensus decision to keep Pakistan on the watchdog's 'grey list' for another four months was a "diplomatic victory" for the government.

"FATF has acknowledged our high-level political commitment and significant progress," the minister said in a tweet.

He said some circles were propagating "false and baseless information about abstention or negative voting in the meeting".

Some social media posts had claimed on Friday that a few countries including Afghanistan and India voted against Pakistan at the watchdog's plenary and that some other countries including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates abstained from the vote.

The minister clarified that no voting criteria was applied for the FATF decision, saying: "Yesterday's consensus decision without any voting is our diplomatic victory."

Azhar said some countries mentioned in the "fake news" were not even members of the FATF.

"Pakistan enjoys broad international support and cooperation on FATF," he added.


Earlier this week, Foreign Office spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri had rejected "false media reports" regarding Saudi Arabia's role in the assessment of Pakistan’s FATF action plan, saying the two countries "enjoy strong fraternal ties".

The FATF had announced on Friday that Pakistan will continue to remain on its grey list for another four months till February 2021 for six out of 27 unmet action plan targets on anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT).

“To date, Pakistan has made progress across all action plan items and has now largely addressed 21 of the 27 action items. As all action plan deadlines have expired, the FATF strongly urges Pakistan to swiftly complete its full action plan by February 2021,” the watchdog said in a statement. “The FATF takes note of the significant progress made on a number of action plan items,” it added.

The next plenary is due on Feb 21-26.

Pakistan welcomed the outcome, saying “this is indicative of the confidence of the FATF on the efforts of Pakistani government”.

The industries minister, who led the Pakistani delegation to the virtual plenary, said: “Blacklisting Pakistan was now off the table.”

FATF had formally placed Pakistan on the grey list in June 2018 due to ‘strategic deficiencies’ in its AML/CFT regime after a push from India supported by the United States, the United Kingdom and some other European countries. Pakistan then committed at the highest level to a 27-point action plan, but failed to meet deadlines.

The action plan items that have been addressed by Pakistan include highly important areas of financial sector, illegal hawala/hundi, cross-border currency regime, international cooperation in terrorist financing cases, amendments to the Anti-Terrorism Act, implementation of targeted financial sanctions by financial institutions, applying sanctions for AML/CFT violations and controlling facilities and services owned or controlled by designated persons and entities.

However, in view of the six items in “Partially Addressed” category, the plenary meeting decided to maintain status quo with respect to classification of Pakistan, for the time being. Considerable work has already been carried out on these six items and Pakistan would continue to make efforts to complete the remaining items in line with its strategy by February 2021, the finance ministry said.

Source DAWN

 

[MenInG]

ISLAMABAD: The opposition PPP has sought an “explanation” from the government over its “failure” to get Pakistan removed from the grey list of the Fin*ancial Action Task Force, but the government has ter*med the FATF’s “consensus decision” to keep the country on the grey list for another four months a “diplomatic victory” for it.

The Pakistan Peoples Par*ty (PPP) alleged that the FATF decision was the res*ult of the “slipshod and obv*i*ously done in” law drafting and lack of homework.

“Why did they (the government functionaries) not get their homework done on time? The news from FATF insiders is that the law drafting is slipshod and obviously done in. Why did they not look at everything in good time? They were too busy managing a constant anti-opposition narrative which seems to be their only task,” PPP parliamentary leader in the Senate Sherry Rehman said in a statement on Saturday.

She said it seemed that the real FATF requirements were skipped and half the exercise was used “as an excuse to pass draconian laws to target the opposition”.

“It is shocking to see ministers giving congratulatory messages when our country is still on the grey list,” Ms Rehman said in an apparent reference to a tweet by Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar in which he had “congratulated the federal and provincial teams” which, according to him, had “worked day and night even during the pandemic to ensure this turnaround”.

The FATF had announced on Friday that Pakistan would continue to remain on its grey list for another four months till February 2021 for six out of 27 unmet action plan targets on anti-money laundering (AML) and combating financing of terrorism (CFT).

The decision had been announced by FATF President Dr Marcus Pleyer while addressing a virtual news conference at the conclusion of a three-day plenary of the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog in Paris.

“To date, Pakistan has made progress across all action plan items and has now largely addressed 21 of the 27 action items. As all action plan deadlines have expired, the FATF strongly urges Pakistan to swiftly complete its full action plan by February 2021,” the watchdog said in a statement. “The FATF takes note of the significant progress made on a number of action plan items,” it added.

The next plenary is due on Feb 21-26.

Pakistan has welcomed the outcome, saying “this is indicative of the confidence of the FATF on the efforts of Pakistani government”.

However, Ms Rehman said the government “must give an explanation for why it did not manage to get Pakistan removed from the grey list.”

“It really is not rocket science. It’s been done before quite smoothly and could have been done again, if only the government (functionaries) did not look and behave like the governance amateurs they are,” Ms Rehman said.

She alleged that the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf led government bulldozed egregious laws, disrespected the parliament and got these laws passed which were not even required by the FATF.

“What did they get out of it? There are still six action points remaining that need to be completed,” she said, adding that the global watchdog had asked the government to implement a plan of action by the end of 2019, which was later extended due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Despite that we made no significant progress. Instead of witch-hunting the opposition, the government should have focused on meeting the FATF’s demands,” she added.

Ms Rehman said Pakistan was removed from the grey list earlier when terrorism was a bigger threat in the region.

“We had Pakistan removed from several lists without any of this circus, when conditions on the ground were actually tougher. If we helped in changing laws it was for Pakistan, nothing else. They make cheap points on every conversation, without maturity or foresight,” she went on saying.

The PPP senator concluded by saying that after all that bulldozing of laws in the parliament and polarisation of the country, the government had not been able to meet the technical compliance standards.

Meanwhile, Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar, who led the Pakistani delegation to the virtual plenary, on Saturday termed “FATF’s consensus decision” to keep Pakistan on its grey list for another four months a “diplomatic victory” for the government.

“FATF has acknowledged our high-level political commitment and significant progress,” he said through his official social media account on Twitter.

The minister regretted that some circles were propagating “false and baseless information about abstention or negative voting in the meeting”.

Some social media posts had claimed on Friday that a few countries, including Afghanistan and India, voted against Pakistan at the FATF plenary and some others, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, abstained from the vote.

The minister, however, clarified that no voting criteria was applied for the FATF decision. He said some countries mentioned in the “fake news” were not even members of the FATF.

“Pakistan enjoys broad international support and cooperation on FATF,” he added.

Foreign Office spokesperson Zahid Hafeez Chaudhri had already rejected “false media reports” regarding Saudi Arabia’s role in the FATF plenary, saying Pakistan and the Kingdom “enjoy strong fraternal ties.”

The industries minister had claimed on Friday that “blacklisting Pakistan is now off the table.”

The FATF had formally placed Pakistan on the grey list in June 2018 due to ‘strategic deficiencies’ in its AML/CFT regime after a push from India supported by the US, the UK and some other European countries. Pakistan then committed to a 27-point action plan, but failed to meet deadlines.

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2020

 

[MenInG]

Islamabad, Pakistan – Pakistan’s government says it is focused on implementing a slew of new anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing laws.

The government’s comments come after the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an intergovernmental body, last week kept Pakistan on a watchlist of countries which do not meet the organisation’s criteria to restrict the funding of “terror” groups.

The FATF extended its evaluation of the country as a “jurisdiction with strategic deficiencies”, keeping it on its so-called “grey list”.

“Pakistan has been able to demonstrate tangible, effective and sustained progress towards the earliest completion of its [FATF] action plan,” Lubna Farooq Malik, director-general of the government’s Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU) which is overseeing the response to the FATF, told Al Jazeera in a statement.

“Since February 2020 […], Pakistan has focused on sustainability and irreversibility of its efforts in the implementation of the action plan by completely revamping its [anti-money laundering and counterterrorism financing] legal framework.

“As a result, Pakistan has successfully put in place an effective legal framework complemented by an equally robust institutional mechanism to address [those] concerns,” Malik said on Monday.


On Sunday, the cabinet minister working on the response to the FATF also said the country was shifting its focus from setting up laws and processes to now implementing them.

“These laws reflect clearance of back log of last 10 years,” said Hammad Azhar on Twitter. “The [government of Pakistan is] now focusing on implementation of these laws for effectiveness [and] evaluation planned ahead.”

The FATF has been closely evaluating Pakistan’s progress on combatting money laundering and terrorism financing since 2018, when it reclassified the country as being at risk of blacklisting for non-compliance with international recommendations.

Isolating Pakistan
Blacklisting by the FATF would result in Pakistan being isolated in certain ways from the international banking system, raising the costs of doing business domestically and with the external sector.

On Friday, FATF and its 37 member states ruled to extend Pakistan’s period of evaluation as it works on a 27-point action plan issued by the body to bring the country’s financial regulations and investigating agencies in line with the organisation’s requirements.

“The FATF takes note of the significant progress made on a number of action plan items,” the body said in a statement released at the conclusion of its plenary session.


Porous borders and the prevalence of ‘hawala’ informal money transfer networks make Pakistan prone to being used as a base to finance illicit activities [File: Akhtar Soomro/Reuters]“To date, Pakistan has made progress across all action plan items and has now largely addressed 21 of the 27 action items. As all action plan deadlines have expired, the FATF strongly urges Pakistan to swiftly complete its full action plan by February 2021.”

The move to continue evaluation but certify progress has been taken as a victory by the Pakistani government, which will continue to work with the FATF and other stakeholders ahead of the group’s next meeting in February.

“FATF has acknowledged our high-level political commitment and significant progress. [The] consensus decision without any voting is our diplomatic victory,” said Azhar.

‘A specific risk’
Progress on the plan has not always been so swift and the risks of Pakistan being blacklisted were far higher a year ago, analysts and observers say.

“It was very clear that Pakistan had a specific risk of terrorism financing, with porous borders, hawala/hundi [forms of cash transfer that exist outside the banking system], and proscribed [armed] organisations as well,” Jamal Aziz, executive director at the Islamabad-based Research Society of International Law (RSIL), told Al Jazeera.

“It was relatively easy to see that the state entities responsible for reporting on this were not operating in the way that our international obligations required of us.”

Aziz has worked with the government on its response to the FATF’s action plan, and says that the state’s initial response did not make much concrete progress.

“It took a while to get the machinery in order. These are such cross-cutting things, that it was unclear who were the leading agencies and who was responsible for what,” he says of the early days of Pakistan’s response.

In the last year, however, analysts and the state say, the country has made much more significant progress, passing more than a dozen new laws related to money laundering, terrorism financing and increasing financial regulation.

“In the first year, there was little progress, but in the last year and a half there has been considerable work, and we have been submitting to FATF the progress made so far,” said government official Malik.

Aziz says that in the first year, authorities took more “kinetic action”, moving against armed groups and seizing assets, without implementing the systematic changes that FATF required.

“We did the same things we’ve done before. Closed seminaries, banned outfits and confiscated assets,” he says. “But in the second quarter of 2019, we saw a shift in approach. The foreign ministry issued guidelines on how UN sanctions are to be implemented [in Pakistan]. Who is responsible for what. [The National Counter Terrorism Authority] issued guidelines on the same thing, and on how parallel investigations were to be conducted as well. That brought some technical clarity.”

The result, he says, is that there is now a system for cross-institutional cooperation on combatting money laundering and terrorism financing, one that did not exist before.

“The processes and understanding of the state institutions on this has now become very good. It now permeates through the system. Before you could issue a notification and that would not necessarily lead to anything. Now it links to the banks, to [other institutions], and it has processes on the ground that have become part of it,” he says.

In a statement, the Financial Monitoring Unit told Al Jazeera that the state’s approach has become four-pronged, working on risk evaluation, prevention through greater use of systematic processes, increasing the use of financial intelligence in criminal prosecutions and working with international partners on coordination.

Implementation, however, remains a major challenge, say analysts.

“There are a lot of issues to do with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, the central bank, getting the right legislation on anti-money laundering through, but also getting prosecutions and convictions,” says Khurram Husain, an economic analyst and journalist.

“It’s not just about having the rules in place, but FATF also wants to see them being enforced. [You need to] not just [have] the right rules, but show visible signs that they are being enforced.”

Economic costs
Activities such as money laundering hurt the economy because they divert funds away from regular banking channels, making it hard for the government to collect taxes. The coronavirus has made tax revenue collection even harder.

[Bloomberg]
One estimate puts the amount of illegal wealth in Pakistan at 56 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).
But Husain says the tighter regulations themselves have come with an economic cost.

“[Grey listing by the FATF] has affected the economy in the sense that there are more cumbersome rules in place for the conduct of normal banking. Many of the loopholes that FATF is trying to close down to shut down access to criminals and terrorists, many of those are used by the informal sector as well, on a very large scale,” he said.

Amir Rana, director of the Islamabad-based Pakistan Institute of Peace Studies, says that while the government has passed tough legislation in the last 12 months, seeing how those laws are enforced and training prosecutors to use them will take more time.

“Prosecution is quite weak here in Pakistan and is yet to be addressed,” Rana says. “The quality of prosecution and trial, investigations, there is still a lot to do in these areas.”

Pakistan has made some progress in arresting high-profile leaders on terrorism financing charges in the last year, an area where there were previously clear deficiencies on prosecutions and convictions.

In February, a Lahore anti-terrorism court convicted Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, founder of the Lashkar-e-Taiba armed group, to five and a half years in prison in a case related to terrorism financing.

In August, three more leaders of his group charged with similar offences were sentenced to jail terms ranging from 18 months to 16 years.

Also in August, Pakistan’s parliament passed a law overhauling its anti-money laundering structures, instituting a new high-powered committee headed by the finance minister and including officials from the country’s powerful military and intelligence services to oversee anti-money laundering efforts.

Looking forward, the big challenge will be how these new structures and processes function, and whether new policies are implemented correctly, says Aziz.

“In our system, the lapse still remains that our [prosecutions are] still dependent on security operations or police personnel conducting raids, and then they use the [terrorism financing] laws against those arrested,” he says, “… rather than someone being flagged on interaction with the financial system [through financial intelligence], which would be more proactive.”

That kind of change, however, will take time.

“You can’t show effectiveness when processes are this new. For realistic change, you can’t just make laws and expect them to work. You have to show how they’re operating, and give them a teething period as well.”

https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2...-it-is-committed-to-fighting-money-laundering

 

[Last Monetarist]

https://www.geo.tv/latest/336233-if-decisions-are-based-on-merit-pakistan-will-be-removed-from-fatfs-grey-list-says

As a three-day virtual meeting of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) will begin tomorrow, February 22, during which the steps taken by Pakistan against money laundering and terror financing will be reviewed, Pakistani officials say that if decisions are based on merit, then the country's name will be likely removed from the FATF's grey list.

According to sources, Pakistan has submitted a detailed report on the implementation of the remaining six points that the FATF tasked the country with.

Back in October 2020, FATF had acknowledged that of the 27 conditions that were put forth to Pakistan, 21 had been fulfilled while six were left.

At that time, FATF President Dr Marcus Pleyer had said that once the remaining six conditions are fulfilled, an "on-site visit" will be approved under which a team from the FATF will visit the country for the next review.

"Our discussions are confidential [...] the members decided by consensus that Pakistan needs to complete these six items for an onsite visit to be granted.

"As soon as the plenary decides that Pakistan has completed all the 27 items, then an onsite visit will be made. After that, it will be decided whether the country will be allowed to exit the grey list or not," Dr Pleyer had said.

Pakistani officials have said that if Pakistan's implementation of the six points were to be reviewed by FATF solely based on merit, then the country's name would be removed from the grey list, which comprises countries without adequate control over terror financing.

Pakistani officials, however, maintain that if Western nations, along with the United States, want to increase pressure on Pakistan, then it will remain on the grey list but it cannot be placed on the black list.

In this regard, Turkey and Malaysia assured Pakistan that the country's name could not be placed on the black list without their votes.

The decisions taken during the upcoming virtual meeting will be announced on February 25, 2021.

Pakistan was placed on the grey list by FATF in June 2018.

In a statement issued after the plenary session concluded in October 2020, the anti-money laundering watchdog said that it had noted the significant progress that Pakistan had made on a number of action plan items.

“To date, Pakistan has made progress across all action plan items and has now largely addressed 21 of the 27 action items,” it said, adding: “As all action plan deadlines have expired, the FATF strongly urges Pakistan to swiftly complete its full action plan by February 2021.”

The FATF recommended that Pakistan work on four areas to “address its strategic deficiencies:"

- Demonstrating that TF prosecutions result in effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions.

- Demonstrating effective implementation of targeted financial sanctions against all 1,267 and 1,373 designated terrorists and those acting for or on their behalf, preventing the raising and moving of funds including in relation to NPOs (non-profit organisations), identifying and freezing assets (movable and immovable), and prohibiting access to funds and financial services

- Demonstrating enforcement against TFS (terror financing sanctions) violations, including in relation to NPOs, of administrative and criminal penalties and provincial and federal authorities cooperating on enforcement cases.

 

[MenInG]

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on Thursday said that Pakistan remains under "increased monitoring" when it comes to terror financing and money-laundering cases.

Speaking via live video link, FATF President Dr Marcus Pleyer said that the FATF recognises Pakistan's counterterrorism efforts, however, there are still some serious deficiencies that the country needs to address.

"Out of the 27 conditions, three still need to be addressed," he said. "I recognise Pakistan's efforts, and out of the six tasks that it had to complete, three had been [done] in an outstanding manner, but it substantially needs to work on the remaining three."

Pleyer added that FATF continues to monitoring financial crimes and terror financing which have become more complicated due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The decision comes after a three-day virtual meeting of the FATF that began on February 22, during which steps taken by Pakistan against money laundering and terror financing were reviewed.

In this context, Pakistani officials had said that if decisions are to be based on merit, then the country's name will be likely removed from the FATF's grey list.

According to sources, Pakistan submitted a detailed report on the implementation of the remaining six points that the FATF tasked the country with.

Back in October 2020, FATF had acknowledged that of the 27 conditions that were put forth to Pakistan, 21 had been fulfilled while six were left.

At that time, FATF President Dr Marcus Pleyer had said that once the remaining six conditions are fulfilled, an "on-site visit" will be approved under which a team from the FATF will visit the country for the next review.

"Our discussions are confidential [...] the members decided by consensus that Pakistan needs to complete these six items for an onsite visit to be granted.

 

[Gharib Aadmi]

Now of the 27 conditions put by FATF Pakistan has completed 24. What are the chance they meet the other 3 conditions and are of the grey list by June?

 

[MenInG]

A day after the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) announced that it will keep Pakistan on its grey list for another four months, Minister for Industries Hammad Azhar said being blacklisted is no longer a possibility.

Speaking at a press conference in Islamabad, he said that Pakistan achieved its targets even though the timelines and the FATF's action plan were a challenge.

"At the previous plenary, FATF countries and the FATF secretariat said that blacklisting was not an option because the country has achieved significant progress," said Azhar, who is the chairman of the FATF Coordination Committee.

Our second target was to complete the 27-point action plan and to send the message to the world that Pakistan's financial systems and terrorism financing networks have gone beyond international standards, he said. "As you have seen, today the FATF itself is saying that we are 90 per cent close to achieving this goal."


When the coronavirus pandemic hit, Pakistan had the option to not do the reports, an option that was exercised by some countries, according to Azhar. "But we took advantage of that time and continued with the reporting. The result of that is in front of you."

He maintained that the remaining three points on the FATF's action plan will be completed soon. "A lot of work has been done on the three points in which we are partially complaint. In my eyes, we are close to being largely compliant in these areas."

He added that the credit for the entire effort was due to a "whole of government approach" under which different departments worked. "Pakistan achieved exemplary progress despite a very tough action plan, tight timelines, and the Covid-19 pandemic."

The minister added that Pakistan is perhaps the only country in the world that is under the FATF's dual scrutiny. "It was decided that Pakistan will remain under dual scrutiny because the MER [Mutual Evaluation Report] process is also ongoing simultaneously.

"So, in parallel our government and departments have also been working day and night on the completion of this process."

He ended his media briefing by once again assuring the nation that Pakistan has avoided the FATF's blacklist and has set the target of completing the 27-point action plan by June.

Pakistan to stay on grey list till June
Pakistan will continue to stay on the FATF's grey list for another four months, until June for three out of 27 unmet action plan targets on anti-money laundering and combating financing terror (AML/CFT).

“Pakistan remains in the increased monitoring list (the grey list),” announced FATF President Dr Marcus Pleyer on Thursday while appreciating that the country had made significant progress on all aspects of AML/CFT action plan “but severe deficiencies still remain relating” to terror financing.

“To date, Pakistan has made progress across all action plan items and has now largely addressed 24 of the 27 action items. As all action plan deadlines have expired, the FATF strongly urges Pakistan to swiftly complete its full action plan before June 2021,” said the president of Paris-based global watchdog on money laundering and terrorist financing.

The FATF president said he “strongly urged Pakistan” to complete the action plan at the earliest. Responding to a question, he said only “a fully completed action plan including three outstanding areas” will be verified and then FATF members will test “its sustainability” and suggest future steps.

The FATF asked Pakistan to continue to work on implementing the three remaining items in its action plan to address its strategically important deficiencies. These include (1) demonstrating that TF investigations and prosecutions target persons and entities acting on behalf or at the directive of the designated persons or entities; (2) demonstrating that TF prosecutions result in effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions; and (3) demonstrating effective implementation of targeted financial sanctions against all 1,267 and 1,373 designated terrorists, and those acting for them or on their behalf.

Replying to a question, the FATF chief made it clear that Pakistan could not be considered for blacklisting even after next deadline of June because the country had agreed to complete the action plan, remained committed to it and “they have shown progress on all counts” and hence that was not the stage to put a country on blacklist. Yet, “we urge the government of Pakistan to make fast progress” to move forward.

The FATF noted that since June 2018, when Pakistan made a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and the Asia Pacific Group to strengthen its AML/CFT regime and to address its strategic counterterrorist financing-related deficiencies, the country’s continued political commitment had led to significant progress across a comprehensive CFT action plan. This includes demonstration that law enforcement agencies are identifying and investigating the widest range of TF activity, demonstrating enforcement against TFS violations, and working to prevent the raising and moving of funds, including by controlling facilities and services owned or controlled by designated persons and entities.

The FATF also added four more jurisdictions to the increased monitoring list that included Burkina Faso, the Cayman Islands, Morocco and Senegal.

DAWN

 

[the Great Khan]

In an inadvertent way our adversaries have done is a favour ala the pressler amendment. The tightening of our money laudnering laws and other loop holes can only be a benefit.

However its quite clear this is entirely a politically motivated move to ensure the afghan peace process doesnt collapse in May.

Good to know we can never be on the blacklist..

 

[Local.Dada]

In an inadvertent way our adversaries have done is a favour ala the pressler amendment. The tightening of our money laudnering laws and other loop holes can only be a benefit.

However its quite clear this is entirely a politically motivated move to ensure the afghan peace process doesnt collapse in May.

Good to know we can never be on the blacklist..

Your ability to see positivity in any news is definitely praiseworthy.

 

[the Great Khan]

Your ability to see positivity in any news is definitely praiseworthy.

well we cant be blacklisted as was the case a few months ago so thats a positive.
We have passed new laws to stop money laundering which will help us catch our crooked politicians and others.
And we only have three requirements left which can be met by june as FATF have said. So basically we have met 24 conditions. Shouldnt be a problem to meet the last 3. If we do they will have no excuse to keep us on it. i suspect this is all linked to the afghan peace process however.

 

[CricketCartoons]

Who is this body which is acting like a chaudhary. Is it UN affiliated? How do they become so powerful that nations try to get a good rating from them?

 

[Bewal Express]

The reason WE DIDNT come out of this list is because of political reasons- Fr wasnt happy with our reaction to their abuse of our beloved Prophet, Israel and the Zionist lobby are using it as stick to get us to do what they want etc. India, UK and Dubai have a much bigger money laundering problem than PK

 

[cric_man]

The reason WE DIDNT come out of this list is because of political reasons- Fr wasnt happy with our reaction to their abuse of our beloved Prophet, Israel and the Zionist lobby are using it as stick to get us to do what they want etc. India, UK and Dubai have a much bigger money laundering problem than PK

Don't know about the Zionist/Israeli lobby. However UK is a haven for parking illicit wealth as seen with the Sharifs , Zardaris, russians. Dubai has zero oversight on Hundi/Hawala but we are under the cosh. 3 more items left and that should be it.

 

[Bewal Express]

Don't know about the Zionist/Israeli lobby. However UK is a haven for parking illicit wealth as seen with the Sharifs , Zardaris, russians. Dubai has zero oversight on Hundi/Hawala but we are under the cosh. 3 more items left and that should be it.

They will find other reasons. Did you notice the creation of the fake TTP spokesperson account as the meeting got closer.

 

[cric_man]

They will find other reasons. Did you notice the creation of the fake TTP spokesperson account as the meeting got closer.

Exactly, and BBC of all outlets pouncing on it without doing any validation.
They have made it an art. Like setting up shell companies. Fake news is released by the likes of Srivastava Group, amplified by the likes of ANI and then picked up by "legit" media outlet who are then quoted by Government officials as truth with 0 audit and validation of the source.

 

[Romali_rotti]

well we cant be blacklisted as was the case a few months ago so thats a positive.
We have passed new laws to stop money laundering which will help us catch our crooked politicians and others.
And we only have three requirements left which can be met by june as FATF have said. So basically we have met 24 conditions. Shouldnt be a problem to meet the last 3. If we do they will have no excuse to keep us on it. i suspect this is all linked to the afghan peace process however.

To be fair, Pakistan was never going to get black listed, as US needs them, China needs them to do their work when required.

Having 2 of the most influential countries on your side, pretty much assures Pakistan of not being black listed.

I wonder if Pakistan's new peace/ceasefire offering with India across the LOC has something to do with the FATF also ? Could it factor in to make Pakistan look like a country trying to be more stable or other reasons especially since India and China are locking horns across their border. ? giving it more muscle to get off the FAFT list altogether, interesting chess moves indeed.

 

[Napa]

Who is this body which is acting like a chaudhary. Is it UN affiliated? How do they become so powerful that nations try to get a good rating from them?

It's the body that was formed to pressure countries to behave by restricting their access to the international financial system.

It is not UN affiliated. If it was it would probably become ineffective and a laughing stock very quickly, like the Saudis heading the UN Human Rights body

 

[Last Monetarist]

https://www.dawn.com/news/1610250/legislation-still-needed-to-meet-fatf-benchmarks

Pakistan will have to make further legislation on at least two counts to meet three outstanding benchmarks of the 27-point action plan of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) before the June deadline.

Also, the government will have to submit an updated report within a month to the FATF on the progress on legislation and other steps to be taken to address the outstanding concerns. It was observed that since the government had changed almost three dozen laws over the past year to meet the FATF requirements, there should not be any hurdle in the way of making two more amendments.

Presiding over a meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC) on Anti-Money Laundering, Finance Minister Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh asked the Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU) and chairman of the FATF Coor*dination Committee and Industries and Production Minister Hammad Azhar to immediately finalise the timelines for additional legislation in consultation with agencies of the federal government and the armed forces.

The deadlines should be reasonable to be shared with the FATF and all agencies and stakeholders should act in close coordination to meet the deadlines well in advance. It was observed that Pakistan had made robust progress over the past two years and was being appreciated by the international community, but at the same time it did not send a good message when international commitments and deadlines were missed repeatedly.

The NEC was informed that Pakistan had to update the Paris-based global watchdog on financial crimes on the way forward and its timelines on the basis of observations of FATF plenary and shortcomings pointed out by the FATF assessors within 30 days.

The additional legislation has to cover some weaknesses in the existing framework that limited the authorities from taking action, including imposing sanction or apprehending those acting for or on behalf of designated terrorist entities or individuals and prosecuting targeted persons and entities or those working for them, within certain deadlines.

The three outstanding action points include (i) demonstrating that TF investigations and prosecutions target persons and entities acting on behalf or at the direction of the designated persons or entities, (ii) demonstrating that TF prosecutions result in effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions, and (iii) demonstrating effective implementation of targeted financial sanctions against all designated terrorists, specifically those acting for or on their behalf.

An official statement said FMU Director General Lubna Malik briefed the committee on the overall progress achieved on the FATF action plan and outlined efforts under way for the remaining targets to be achieved in due course of time.

She said Pakistan had received international recognition and support for making strides vis-à-vis an exigent action plan given by the FATF.

Sources said the meeting was also informed that reasonable progress had already been achieved on one out of three remaining points, but two areas that required additional legislation would be time consuming.

The finance minister commended the efforts made by the government’s coordination team led by Industries Minister Hammad Azhar in achieving major milestones with reference to the 27-point FATF action plan. “The unity of purpose, team work and meticulous coordination among various ministries and departments concerned have brought Pakistan closer to achieving the target of completing FATF action plan despite enormous challenges,” Mr Shaikh was quoted as saying.

Acknowledging the robust progress demonstrated by the relevant stakeholders, the finance minister called for expediting efforts to fulfil the requirements in the remaining areas. “The strict adherence to timelines would culminate into successful completion of the FATF action plan,” he stressed.

The meeting was attended by the minister for industries, secretaries of finance and law and senior officials of the FMU, FATF secretariat, National Accountability Bureau, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, State Bank of Pakistan, Federal Investigation Agency and military operations.

 

[saeedhk]

It is laughable that after the hearing, the government said that its aim was to remain in the gray list rather than being delisted. This was supposed to be some sort of achievement.

What a visionary and competent government we have elected!

 

[hoshiarpurexpress]

An Islamabad-based think-tank has recently come up with a research paper that suggested the country has lost about US$ 38 Billion on account of its listing thrice in the FATF Grey List since 2008-2021 period. Tabadlab, the think-tank worked out the losses on the basis of a decrease in the national domestic consumption, foreign direct investment (FDI) and exports. A large part of the losses has been attributed to a significant reduction in household and government consumption and expenditure.
These are lost opportunities for Pakistan. What is the leadership doing ?

 

[finalfantasy7]

An Islamabad-based think-tank has recently come up with a research paper that suggested the country has lost about US$ 38 Billion on account of its listing thrice in the FATF Grey List since 2008-2021 period. Tabadlab, the think-tank worked out the losses on the basis of a decrease in the national domestic consumption, foreign direct investment (FDI) and exports. A large part of the losses has been attributed to a significant reduction in household and government consumption and expenditure.
These are lost opportunities for Pakistan. What is the leadership doing ?

stealing the money what else.

 

[hoshiarpurexpress]

Another bit of facts :

forex reserves are at a very low of US$ 12Billion. The Gross Public Debt has risen from 72% of GDP at US$95 Billion (2018) to 87% at US$112.8 Billion currently. Pakistan’s Debt to GDP ratio currently stands at an abysmal 107% of GDP. Total external debts and liabilities have risen from 33% of GDP (2018) to 45% of GDP (2020). [MENTION=131701]Mamoon[/MENTION] bhai Imran's performance does not seem to be that good.

 

[Gharib Aadmi]

An Islamabad-based think-tank has recently come up with a research paper that suggested the country has lost about US$ 38 Billion on account of its listing thrice in the FATF Grey List since 2008-2021 period. Tabadlab, the think-tank worked out the losses on the basis of a decrease in the national domestic consumption, foreign direct investment (FDI) and exports. A large part of the losses has been attributed to a significant reduction in household and government consumption and expenditure.
These are lost opportunities for Pakistan. What is the leadership doing ?

The current leadership since coming into power in August of 2018, have made Pakistan compliant in 24 of the 27 points raised by FATF. Thats 90%.

 

[Firebat]

Hammad Azhar says 'homework completed' to help Pakistan leave FATF grey list

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister of Industries and Production Hammad Azhar said Sunday the homework to help Pakistan leave the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) grey list has been "completed".

Speaking to the media here, Hammad Azhar said Pakistan was put on the grey list because of the previous governments but that the PTI regime would "soon" help remove the country from it.

"The Opposition's attitude has always remained negative and always been against the country's integrity," he said. "However, we stand steadfast on our policy to eliminate corruption and return the money."

Speaking of inflation, the federal minister said that food is "becoming more expensive around the world" but the PTI regime is "driving the economy forward".

On relations with Pakistan's east-side neighbour, he said: "We cannot turn a blind eye towards India. We wish to move forward but there should be a positive attitude from the other side as well."

Azhar expressed hope that Prime Minister Imran Khan would soon recover from the coronavirus and "be among us". People, he added, need to be very cautious with regards to COVID-19 and related standard operating procedures (SOPs).

https://www.geo.tv/latest/340892-ha...mpleted-to-help-pakistan-leave-fatf-grey-list

 

[MenInG]

The Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) acknowledged Pakistan's progress to fight corruption in the Mutual Evaluation Report released Friday.

The purpose of the APG is to ensure the adoption, implementation, and enforcement of internationally accepted anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing standards as set out in the FATF Forty Recommendations and FATF Eight Special Recommendations.

The group said Pakistan had largely complied with 31 of FATF's 40 recommendations — and now the country has been added to the APG's "follow-up list".

The Ministry of Finance welcomed the development and said the recommendation shows Pakistan's seriousness towards meeting FATF's requirements.

The Mutual Evaluation Report covers measures up to October 2020, it said.

"Pakistan has met the international standards for anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing, the ministry said.

Pakistan has completed 21 recommendations in an "unprecedented and extraordinary manner" within a short span of time, the ministry said, adding that in the APG's 2019 report, Pakistan had implemented 10 points out of 40.

The ministry said Pakistan has amended 14 federal and three provincial laws to implement the recommendations, which have not only strengthened the system but also brought stability.

'Unprecedented'
Reacting to the APG's acknowledgment of Pakistan's efforts, Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar said parallel scrutiny is being undertaken at FATF besides the country's current action plan.

"Upgrade of 20 criteria in less than 2 years is unprecedented in FATF history for any country," the energy minister claimed.

"This outcome is a result of major legal reforms (14 federal + 3 provincial laws with corresponding regulations). It is also due to the untiring efforts of the entire FATF team (20 ministries plus organisations)," he added.

GEO

 

[cric_man]

The Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) acknowledged Pakistan's progress to fight corruption in the Mutual Evaluation Report released Friday.

The purpose of the APG is to ensure the adoption, implementation, and enforcement of internationally accepted anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing standards as set out in the FATF Forty Recommendations and FATF Eight Special Recommendations.

The group said Pakistan had largely complied with 31 of FATF's 40 recommendations — and now the country has been added to the APG's "follow-up list".

The Ministry of Finance welcomed the development and said the recommendation shows Pakistan's seriousness towards meeting FATF's requirements.

The Mutual Evaluation Report covers measures up to October 2020, it said.

"Pakistan has met the international standards for anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing, the ministry said.

Pakistan has completed 21 recommendations in an "unprecedented and extraordinary manner" within a short span of time, the ministry said, adding that in the APG's 2019 report, Pakistan had implemented 10 points out of 40.

The ministry said Pakistan has amended 14 federal and three provincial laws to implement the recommendations, which have not only strengthened the system but also brought stability.

'Unprecedented'
Reacting to the APG's acknowledgment of Pakistan's efforts, Minister for Energy Hammad Azhar said parallel scrutiny is being undertaken at FATF besides the country's current action plan.

"Upgrade of 20 criteria in less than 2 years is unprecedented in FATF history for any country," the energy minister claimed.

"This outcome is a result of major legal reforms (14 federal + 3 provincial laws with corresponding regulations). It is also due to the untiring efforts of the entire FATF team (20 ministries plus organisations)," he added.

GEO

What does that mean?

 

[Napa]

What does that mean?

It means that Pakistan stays where it has been. Won't be put into the black list, but won't get out of the FATF list that it is currently on either.

 

[cric_man]

It means that Pakistan stays where it has been. Won't be put into the black list, but won't get out of the FATF list that it is currently on either.

I got that...
But what is the criteria? Last review Pakistan had met 21 of 27 action items. Now it is 31 out of 40? Is this a moving of the goal post. Looks like Pakistan is being strung along.

 

[Napa]

I got that...
But what is the criteria? Last review Pakistan had met 21 of 27 action items. Now it is 31 out of 40? Is this a moving of the goal post. Looks like Pakistan is being strung along.

What will happen in Afghanistan is still not known. The US and other Western countries do not want to lose the FATF leverage over Pakistan after 3,500+ of their soldiers have died in Afghanistan. They would like that the Taliban doesn't get all the power making the war seem like a defeat.

India after Pulwama also wants pressure to continue on Pakistan, though obviously it has much less influence on FATF compared to the US and other Western countries.

Don't expect this to be resolved anytime soon.

 

[Gharib Aadmi]

What does that mean?

Pakistan will be stuck in the grey list for a while longer. However as much as this might disappoint some people, is extremely unlikely that Pakistan will be ever put in the blacklist.

To avoid being put in the Blacklist Pakistan only needs the support of 3 FATF members. China, Turkey, and Malaysia wont vote to Blacklist Pakistan, even if Pakistan deserves it.

And its not the end of the world to be put in the Grey list. Their are 15 countries there. Have you ever heard of anyone talking about Panama, or Albania being on the grey list?

Most likely Pakistan will get out of the grey list in a few years.

 

[cricketjoshila]

Pakistan will be stuck in the grey list for a while longer. However as much as this might disappoint some people, is extremely unlikely that Pakistan will be ever put in the blacklist.

To avoid being put in the Blacklist Pakistan only needs the support of 3 FATF members. China, Turkey, and Malaysia wont vote to Blacklist Pakistan, even if Pakistan deserves it.

And its not the end of the world to be put in the Grey list. Their are 15 countries there. Have you ever heard of anyone talking about Panama, or Albania being on the grey list?

Most likely Pakistan will get out of the grey list in a few years.

Out of 3, Malaysian can flip if adequate pressure is put by countries. Rest two wont.

 

[cric_man]

Out of 3, Malaysian can flip if adequate pressure is put by countries. Rest two wont.

So is this a political tool then? Why would countries "flip" if 90% of progress has been made?

 

[cricketjoshila]

So is this a political tool then? Why would countries "flip" if 90% of progress has been made?

If you keep stalling at certain reforms and keep helping funding of terrorist activities, those countries affected by terrorism have every right to apply pressure on Malaysia.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

If you keep stalling at certain reforms and keep helping funding of terrorist activities, those countries affected by terrorism have every right to apply pressure on Malaysia.

They can apply whatever they want, but that doesn't mean Malaysia has to accept it is funding terrorists if they don't believe it to be true. Malaysia's first priority has to be the welfare of it's own citizens, not to serve political machinations of outside organisations.

 

[Bewal Express]

FATF has become a political tool to punish those that don't play ball. For example Britain has become the hub of international Money laundering and Ind also has a massive problem.
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/dail...-indian-money-laundering-case-fatfs-role/amp/

 

[King_Kohli]

Satisfied with progress but maintains Grey.
This is never ending serial...

 

[OMB]

FATF has become a political tool to punish those that don't play ball. For example Britain has become the hub of international Money laundering and Ind also has a massive problem.
https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/dail...-indian-money-laundering-case-fatfs-role/amp/

Strange, I read that article twice and finally gave up, so vague and poorly written.

 

[Napa]

FATF has become a political tool to punish those that don't play ball.

That is precisely the thinking of the Western countries. Don't "play ball" by arming the Haqqani Network that kills their soldiers, and they will retaliate.

 

[saeedhk]

Pakistan will remain in grey list or even go into the blacklist because right-wingers and extremists are running amok in the country and Imran-led government is too afraid of reining them in. Kids as young as five are parroting violent chants and calling for the slaughter of infidels. With the recent rapid rise of the TLP, worse days are still to come. I do not see Pakistan getting rid of extremist outfits and becoming a normal nation any time soon. In fact, the world is already fed-up with Pakistan when it comes to treatment of minorities. Difficult days coming up for the country.

 

[Bewal Express]

That is precisely the thinking of the Western countries. Don't "play ball" by arming the Haqqani Network that kills their soldiers, and they will retaliate.

But they are ok to arm criminals/Terrorists in PK? Who is Yadav and what was he doing in Baluchistan, has there ever been a bigger smoking gun? Who is Altaf and why was he given asylum in the UK?

 

[Bewal Express]

Pakistan will remain in grey list or even go into the blacklist because right-wingers and extremists are running amok in the country and Imran-led government is too afraid of reining them in. Kids as young as five are parroting violent chants and calling for the slaughter of infidels. With the recent rapid rise of the TLP, worse days are still to come. I do not see Pakistan getting rid of extremist outfits and becoming a normal nation any time soon. In fact, the world is already fed-up with Pakistan when it comes to treatment of minorities. Difficult days coming up for the country.

The world couldnt care less about Minorities in PK, they West wants to control PK. Hindutuva propaganda machines like YOU repeating this will not make an iota of difference. Wasnt your lie caught out last week. PK has a problem with its treatment of minorirites but you Guys in India are hardly ones to talk.

 

[saeedhk]

The world couldnt care less about Minorities in PK, they West wants to control PK. Hindutuva propaganda machines like YOU repeating this will not make an iota of difference. Wasnt your lie caught out last week. PK has a problem with its treatment of minorirites but you Guys in India are hardly ones to talk. So get lost.

1000 minorities girls are forcible converted each year. There is a widespread violence and discrimination against Hindus, Christians, and Ahmedis. There is no denying the injustice our minority members face on a daily basis.

You seem so naive by suggesting that the West wants to control Pakistan. In fact, the land of pure is already controlled by our Chinese masters, the IMF, the WB and international lenders who lend us money so that we do not starve to death. One call from our many masters especially the Chinese make our great country bend over backwards to appease them. One call from the IMF and Captain Imran rushes to increase fuel prices by 15%.

For your information, after being threatened with sanctions by the European Parliament, Pakistan has released Shafqat Immanuel and his wife who were sentenced to death for blasphemy. They were released in days after EP called for their release. This is the reality. Beggers can never be choosers. All this talk of aukaat, ghairat and dignity is an attempt to fool oneself.

Also, can you please tell when was I caught lying? I am waiting.

 

[Napa]

But they are ok to arm criminals/Terrorists in PK? Who is Yadav and what was he doing in Baluchistan, has there ever been a bigger smoking gun? Who is Altaf and why was he given asylum in the UK?

If you believe all this, then stop crying and start working to put India and UK on the FATF lists. Get with the program buddy

 

[cric_man]

If you believe all this, then stop crying and start working to put India and UK on the FATF lists. Get with the program buddy

Guess Yadav was on a sight seeing trip in Balochistan. And BLA, a designated terrorist outfit gets its money from ether.

 

[ahsan17]

Pakistan will remain in grey list or even go into the blacklist because right-wingers and extremists are running amok in the country and Imran-led government is too afraid of reining them in. Kids as young as five are parroting violent chants and calling for the slaughter of infidels. With the recent rapid rise of the TLP, worse days are still to come. I do not see Pakistan getting rid of extremist outfits and becoming a normal nation any time soon. In fact, the world is already fed-up with Pakistan when it comes to treatment of minorities. Difficult days coming up for the country.

Do you have any idea about the criteria for the grey list or the black list? Or are you suggesting FATF is using unofficial criteria (like the ones you mention) to grey lost Pakistan?

 

[ahsan17]

If you believe all this, then stop crying and start working to put India and UK on the FATF lists. Get with the program buddy

This is usually what Indians' arguments boil down to. First they start from sitting on a high horse, claiming to have better morals and principals. And when their arguments get picked apart easily, they fall back to the might is right argument.

 

[cricketjoshila]

This is usually what Indians' arguments boil down to. First they start from sitting on a high horse, claiming to have better morals and principals. And when their arguments get picked apart easily, they fall back to the might is right argument.

Pakistan has to give proof to the world, claims by pakistan government mean nothing. Provide proof and get the world to take action against India or UK.

 

[ahsan17]

Pakistan has to give proof to the world, claims by pakistan government mean nothing. Provide proof and get the world to take action against India or UK.

What proof? All major corrupt criminals are hiding in UK. I mean it doesn't get more obvious than that. Proof only works if the other party is impartial and doesn't have an agenda of their own.

 

[Napa]

Guess Yadav was on a sight seeing trip in Balochistan. And BLA, a designated terrorist outfit gets its money from ether.

The issue is whether India is the instigator of terrorism or if India is retaliating? Remember the Kashmir terrorism began way back in the 1980s, long before Yadav.

Best if both countries stopped doing this and worked for development instead. Anyone with any sense of reality knows Kashmir isn't going to break away from India this century.

 

[cricketjoshila]

Recently one pakistani senator claimed that pakistan is training Hamas.


https://www.msn.com/en-in/video/mon...enator-raja-zafar-ul-haq-cnbc-tv18/vi-AAKKvOO

 

[MenInG]

Why is Pakistan's FATF situation resulted in discussion about India?

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

Recently one pakistani senator claimed that pakistan is training Hamas.


https://www.msn.com/en-in/video/mon...enator-raja-zafar-ul-haq-cnbc-tv18/vi-AAKKvOO

He can claim what he likes, until it is verified, it can't be taken seriously.

 

[MenInG]

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Wednesday India was making attempts to misuse the forum of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for political purposes and doing continuous propaganda against Pakistan.

In a statement, Qureshi said Pakistan had fulfilled 26 out of 27 recommendations of the FATF Action Plan, therefore, there was no justification for the country to remain in the grey list. “Pakistan has fulfilled maximum technical requirements of FATF,” he said.

The statement comes as the five-day virtual meeting of the FATF began on June 21 in Paris. The global financial watchdog will make public its findings on June 25. Qureshi said that Pakistan took concrete steps to curb money-laundering and terrorist financing in the national interest.

He pointed out that Pakistan “inherited” the problem of FATF grey-listing from the previous government. “However, the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan has done its best to get Pakistan out of the grey list,” he added.

Finance ministry statement

In a separate statement on Wednesday, meanwhile, the finance ministry warned against speculation regarding the FATF Action Plan, saying that any such attempts could harm global cooperation.

The ministry said that Pakistan had assured the FATF at the highest level of implementing the Action Plan. It added that France was Pakistan's active partner in implementing the plan by providing guidance and technical assistance to the country.

The statement said that Pakistan had implemented the FATF Action Plan “effectively and expeditiously” in the last two years, adding that Pakistan's performance had been praised by the international community. It added that the FATF decision about Pakistan would be announced on June 25.

 

[Bewal Express]

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said on Wednesday India was making attempts to misuse the forum of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for political purposes and doing continuous propaganda against Pakistan.

In a statement, Qureshi said Pakistan had fulfilled 26 out of 27 recommendations of the FATF Action Plan, therefore, there was no justification for the country to remain in the grey list. “Pakistan has fulfilled maximum technical requirements of FATF,” he said.

The statement comes as the five-day virtual meeting of the FATF began on June 21 in Paris. The global financial watchdog will make public its findings on June 25. Qureshi said that Pakistan took concrete steps to curb money-laundering and terrorist financing in the national interest.

He pointed out that Pakistan “inherited” the problem of FATF grey-listing from the previous government. “However, the government of Prime Minister Imran Khan has done its best to get Pakistan out of the grey list,” he added.

Finance ministry statement

In a separate statement on Wednesday, meanwhile, the finance ministry warned against speculation regarding the FATF Action Plan, saying that any such attempts could harm global cooperation.

The ministry said that Pakistan had assured the FATF at the highest level of implementing the Action Plan. It added that France was Pakistan's active partner in implementing the plan by providing guidance and technical assistance to the country.

The statement said that Pakistan had implemented the FATF Action Plan “effectively and expeditiously” in the last two years, adding that Pakistan's performance had been praised by the international community. It added that the FATF decision about Pakistan would be announced on June 25.

FATF is a political tool to punish countries who dont do as told. PK has done what was required and removal should be a formality but we know the games these losers play.

 

[cricketjoshila]

FATF is a political tool to punish countries who dont do as told. PK has done what was required and removal should be a formality but we know the games these losers play.

Pakistan says it has done what was required. Let FATF say what it thinks.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

Pakistan says it has done what was required. Let FATF say what it thinks.

No one is preventing FATF from saying what it thinks.

 

[Local.Dada]

No one is preventing FATF from saying what it thinks.

FATF doesn’t have to say anything. Usually what they think is reflective in its actions and that is usually not based on forums or hearsay but tangible evidence and documentation provided.

 

[Local.Dada]

FATF is a political tool to punish countries who dont do as told. PK has done what was required and removal should be a formality but we know the games these losers play.

So which country wants to punish Pakistan?

They are friends with a super power in China.

India as you have said doesn’t have any stature or standing to influence anyone including USA. Unless you have changed your tune on that opinion.

So can you be more specific?

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

FATF doesn’t have to say anything. Usually what they think is reflective in its actions and that is usually not based on forums or hearsay but tangible evidence and documentation provided.

You should be directing that at cricketjoshila who was the one imploring to let FATF say what it thinks.

 

[cricketjoshila]

No one is preventing FATF from saying what it thinks.

They will say it when the plenary ends.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

They will say it when the plenary ends.

Maybe you should wait until then.

 

[Bewal Express]

Pakistan says it has done what was required. Let FATF say what it thinks.

And you think after IK refused America basis, the conclusion isn't foregone

 

[cricketjoshila]

According to journalists on twitter, pakistan remains on FATF grey list.

 

[hoshiarpurexpress]

Some media houses in India reporting that Pakistan remains on FATF grey list still.
Ahh.. Dawn reported as well.

Expected result.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1631409/pakistan-to-remain-on-fatf-grey-list

 

[hoshiarpurexpress]

Pakistan to remain on FATF grey list : Dawn

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) announced on Friday that Pakistan will continue to remain on the watchdog's "increased monitoring list", also known as the grey list, in a press conference after its five-day plenary meeting.

Announcing the decision, FATF President Dr Marcus Pleyer said, "Pakistan has made significant progress and it has largely addressed 26 out of 27 measures."

Pleyer, however, added that the action plan on financial terrorism still needed to be addressed.

"In 2019, the regional partner of FATF identified problems in Pakistan's anti-money laundering measures. But since then it has improved. There remains risk of money laundering and subsequently FATF had discussions with Pakistan.

"I want to thank the Pakistan government for their continued commitment to address the concerns and make the necessary changes they were asked to effect," Pleyer said.

The watchdog's president, responding to a question, said all action plan items needed to be addressed and goals fulfilled for countries to exit the grey list.

"All countries are equal. This is also our expectation from the Pakistan government."

In its last presser following a plenary, on Feb 25, FATF President Dr Marcus Pleyer had said Pakistan remained under increased monitoring, adding that “while Islamabad has made significant progress, there remained some serious deficiencies in mechanisms to plug terrorism financing”.

A couple of days ago Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that given Pakistan's recent progress, the financial watchdog had no justification to keep the country on its grey list.

"We had been given 27 points in the FATF Action Plan, out of which work on 26 has been completed," Qureshi had said, adding that work was afoot to address the remaining item.

Pakistan has been on the FATF’s grey list for deficiencies in its counter-terror financing and anti-money laundering regimes since June 2018.

Until the last assessment, Pakistan was found deficient in acting against organisations allegedly linked to the terror groups listed by the UN Security Council, prosecuting and convicting banned individuals and tackling smuggling of narcotics and precious stones.

In its last observation in Feb, the FATF president had reiterated that Pakistan had made "progress", but added: "[We] strongly urge completion of the plan [by Pakistan]."

He had insisted that Pakistan "must improve their investigations and prosecutions of all groups and entities financing terrorists and their associates and show [that] penalties by courts are effective. As soon as Pakistan shows it has completed these items, FATF will verify and members of FATF will vote."

FATF had stressed that Pakistan should fully address three remaining points on the action plan:

demonstrating that TF (terrorism financing) investigations and prosecutions target persons and entities acting on behalf or at the direction of the designated persons or entities;
demonstrating that TF prosecutions result in effective,proportionate and dissuasive sanctions; and
demonstrating effective implementation of targeted financial sanctions against all 1267 and 1373 designated terrorists, specifically those acting for or on their behalf.
The virtual meeting of the FATF Plenary took place under the presidency of Dr Marcus Pleyer, while delegates representing 205 members of the Global Network and observer organisations including the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations and the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units were also in attendance.


https://www.dawn.com/news/1631409/pakistan-to-remain-on-fatf-grey-list

 

[hoshiarpurexpress]

That was expected. Pakistan is now not towing the Western line on many fronts
After looking at the convenience release DW Documentary a week ago on Terror in Europe, where they put the logo of ISI as the main image.. Seems like the noose is still kept around the necks of Pakistan.

 

[MenInG]

The Financial Action Task Force has said that it recognises Pakistan's progress and efforts to address items in its country action plan that pertain to combating financing of terrorism and has encouraged it to continue progress and address as soon as possible "the one remaining CFT-related item".

Addressing a press conference after the June 21-25 plenary meeting concluded in Paris, FATF President Dr Marcus Pleyer said that Pakistan remains under "increased monitoring".

"The Pakistani government has made substantial progress in making its counter-terrorist financing systems stronger and more effective. It has largely addressed 26 out of 27 items on the action plan it first committed to in June 2018," he said.

Dr Pleyer said that the plan focused on terrorist financing issues.

He said that the one key action item still needs to be completed "which concerns the investigation and prosecution of senior leaders and commanders of UN designated terror groups".

The FATF president highlighted that Pakistan has "made improvements" after the Asia Pacific Group highlighted issues in 2019 during its assessment of Pakistan's entire anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing system.

"These include clear efforts to raise awareness in the private sector to Pakistan's money laundering risks and to develop and use financial intelligence to build case.

"However Pakistan is still failing to effectively implement the global FATF standards across a number of areas. This means the risks of money laundering remain high which in turn can fuel corruption and organised crime," he said.

Dr Player said that this is why the FATF has worked with the Pakistan government on new areas that still need to be improved as part of a new action plan that largely focuses on money laundering risks.

This includes increasing the number of investigations and prosecutions and making sure law enforcement agencies cooperate internationally to trace, freeze and confiscate assets, he said.

"This is about helping authorities stop corruption and prevent organised criminals from profiting from their crimes and undermining the financial system and legitimate economy in Pakistan," Dr Pleyer added.

Six new areas for Pakistan to work on
The FATF outlined six areas where Pakistan should continue to work to address its strategically important AML/CFT deficiencies:

(1) enhancing international cooperation by amending the MLA (Mututal Legal Assistance) law;

(2) demonstrating that assistance is being sought from foreign countries in implementing UNSCR 1373 designations;

(3) demonstrating that supervisors are conducting both on-site and off-site supervision commensurate with specific risks associated with DNFBPs (Designated Non-Financial Business and Professions), including
applying appropriate sanctions where necessary;

(4) demonstrating that proportionate and dissuasive sanctions are applied consistently to all legal persons and legal arrangements for non-compliance with beneficial ownership requirements;

(5) demonstrating an increase in ML (money laundering) investigations and prosecutions and that proceeds of crime continue to be restrained and confiscated in line with Pakistan’s risk profile, including working with foreign counterparts to trace, freeze, and confiscate assets; and

(6) demonstrating that DNFBPs (Designated Non-Financial Business and Professions) are being monitored for compliance with proliferation financing requirements and that sanctions are being imposed for non-compliance.

He went on to say he wishes to "thank the Pakistani government for their continued strong commitment to this progress".

The FATF president said substantial progress has already been made "and I know the authorities will continue to work to make the necessary changes".

Responding to a question over whether it would prove discouraging for other countries that "despite unprecedented progress", Pakistan was still placed on the grey list, he said: "Our rules and procedures are very clear — all deficiencies must be addressed."

Dr Pleyer said an earlier exit "would be also discouraging for other countries that had fully completed the action plan and then got off the list".

"The expectation is clear, we treat all countries equally."

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With compliance on 26 points, no justification to keep Pakistan in FATF's grey list: Qureshi
FATF's Asia-Pacific Group acknowledges Pakistan's progress in fight against money laundering
The path out of the FATF 'grey list'
On the recent events of uranium theft in India and whether FATF would take action, he said: "I am aware of the media reports, but I am not going to comment on something we haven't assessed. The FATF assesses countries on AML frameworks and comments on the strength of their systems following an assessment."

Speaking about mutual evaluations for India, he said there is a clear schedule for all the countries and due to COVID-19, the evaluations were delayed, but as soon as the COVID-19 situation improves, the mutual evaluation will be done for India.

FATF recognises continued political commitment
In a statement issued after the meeting, the FATF said that since June 2018, when Pakistan made a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and APG to strengthen its AML/CFT regime and to address its strategic counter-terrorist financing-related deficiencies, "Pakistan’s continued political commitment has led to significant progress across a comprehensive CFT action plan".

"The FATF recognises Pakistan’s progress and efforts to address these CFT action plan items and notes that since February 2021, Pakistan has made progress to complete two of the three remaining action items on demonstrating that effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions are imposed for TF (terror financing) convictions and that Pakistan’s targeted financial sanctions regime was being used effectively to targeted terrorist assets," the statement read.

FATF noted that Pakistan has now completed 26 of the 27 action items in its 2018 action plan.

"The FATF encourages Pakistan to continue to make progress to address as soon as possible the one remaining CFT-related item by demonstrating that TF (terror financing) investigations and prosecutions target senior leaders and commanders of UN designated terrorist groups," said the statement.

According to the anti-money laundering watchdog, in response to additional deficiences later identified in Pakistan’s 2019 APG Mutual Evaluation Report (MER), "Pakistan has made progress to address a number of the recommended actions [...] and provided further high-level commitment in June 2021 to address these strategic deficiencies pursuant to a new action plan that primarily focuses on combating money laundering".

Path out of list in sight
Pakistan was hopeful that compliance in 26 out of 27 conditions in the Country Action Plan would provide sufficient grounds for its exit from the Task Force's grey list.

The matter, however, was never so simple. There are complicated categories which determine a country's compliance and real progress.

There are four possible levels of technical compliance: compliant (C), largely compliant (LC), partially compliant (PC), and non-compliant (NC).

The fear or possibility that Pakistan would not be given a clean chit in the FATF plenary meeting was already there, given past outcomes.

This is because there is another process that goes alongside the FATF's country action plan, and this is the Asia Pacific Group plan, which has its own 40 conditions Pakistan has to meet.

APG is an affiliate of the FATF. It is a regional group that acts as a bridge between FATF and Pakistan because Pakistan is not a member of FATF. The total number of FATF members is 39. There are 37 countries besides organisations of regional cooperation, including the European Commission and the Gulf Cooperation Council.

The FATF relies on its network of regional groups and these groups forward the case of that country to the FATF based on the technical assessment of a country and the International Co-operation Review Group, in light of the recommendations of the regional group, evaluates a country's performance.

Since 2018, when Pakistan was put on the grey list, this group has been giving its input in Pakistan's Mutual Evaluation report.

On the recommendations of this group, Pakistan has remained on the grey list for the last three years.

However, now the Asia Pacific Group has also confirmed that Pakistan has complied with 30 of its own 40 conditions. And with this latest development, the path out seems in sight.

GEO

 

[ahmedzee]

I think FATF credibility is on the line after this. I think they should prove to the world that they’re not a tool for geopolitical victimization. It is shocking to see that a country adhering to 26 out of 27 points is still placed in the grey list. If FATF has any credibility left then they need to be transparent on how some countries are not in the grey list that don’t adhere to what Pakistan has done recently.

 

[Local.Dada]

I think FATF credibility is on the line after this. I think they should prove to the world that they’re not a tool for geopolitical victimization. It is shocking to see that a country adhering to 26 out of 27 points is still placed in the grey list. If FATF has any credibility left then they need to be transparent on how some countries are not in the grey list that don’t adhere to what Pakistan has done recently.

Wait, putting Pakistan on the grey list now affects FATF’s credibility? )

Jokes apart. May be it is time for Pakistan to introspect why they got in to this situation. That would be a start. If this is a political conspiracy then surely Pakistan could have conjured up allies to help them get out of this mess. Couldn’t they? I mean they are best friends with one super power in China and we’re allies with another super power USA till about recently.

 

[srh]

I read this on Twitter:

FATF keeps Pakistan on the Grey List. Here's the data from Pakistan on Money Laundering:
Investigations=2,420
Prosecutions=354
Conviction=1
We have two choices: Blame it all on 'anti-Pakistan' forces or put our own house in order.

If the above is correct then it is Pakistan's fault. Why money launders are not getting conviction? Did the prosecutors make the case deliberately weak (for corruption) so courts could not convict? What is Imran Khan doing?

 

[ahsan17]

Wait, putting Pakistan on the grey list now affects FATF’s credibility? )

Jokes apart. May be it is time for Pakistan to introspect why they got in to this situation. That would be a start. If this is a political conspiracy then surely Pakistan could have conjured up allies to help them get out of this mess. Couldn’t they? I mean they are best friends with one super power in China and we’re allies with another super power USA till about recently.

He laid out why FATF credibility should be questioned, but you completely ignored that, offered nothing concrete in response but only responded with rhetoric? LOL.

 

[ahmedzee]

Wait, putting Pakistan on the grey list now affects FATF’s credibility? )

Jokes apart. May be it is time for Pakistan to introspect why they got in to this situation. That would be a start. If this is a political conspiracy then surely Pakistan could have conjured up allies to help them get out of this mess. Couldn’t they? I mean they are best friends with one super power in China and we’re allies with another super power USA till about recently.

Pakistan was rightfully put into the Grey List few years ago. I am not debating that.

All I am saying is if 26 out of 27 points were satisfied, then Pakistan should be out of FATF grey list. To keep Pakistan in grey list even after that destroys FATF's credibility, as it is becoming more evident that it is a Geopolical tool that is currently being used against Pakistan.

 

[cricketjoshila]

I think FATF credibility is on the line after this. I think they should prove to the world that they’re not a tool for geopolitical victimization. It is shocking to see that a country adhering to 26 out of 27 points is still placed in the grey list. If FATF has any credibility left then they need to be transparent on how some countries are not in the grey list that don’t adhere to what Pakistan has done recently.

Who put FATF's credibility on the line? Who is the judge here?

 

[hoshiarpurexpress]

I think FATF credibility is on the line after this. I think they should prove to the world that they’re not a tool for geopolitical victimization. It is shocking to see that a country adhering to 26 out of 27 points is still placed in the grey list. If FATF has any credibility left then they need to be transparent on how some countries are not in the grey list that don’t adhere to what Pakistan has done recently.

If you don’t find the institution credible reject it. Why is the establishment trying to implement the points then? Nuclear power North Korea does not worry about engaging with FATF. Go the same way.

 

[hoshiarpurexpress]

Getting off the list will make Pakistan’s debts cheaper to service and save billions of rupees that way - being in the grey list has no direct penalties, but it is a warning stage before you go on the black list like North Korea and Iran where you are cut out of direct financial transactions with the rest of the world this gets reflected in the risk ratings given to Pakistan by credit risk agencies. If you are in the grey list (meaning you are in danger of black list) , you will get lower risk rating scores meaning the interest rates on your national bonds will be higher.

Pakistan’s rating across all major rating systems is B-. This is considered speculative (or “junk”) and so Pakistan borrows money through 10 year bonds at 10%. This is in part driven by the risk of being moved from grey to black

By contrast, Bangladesh is a couple of grades higher, BB-. Bangladesh 10 year bonds cost them just 5.4%. Making Bangledesh’s debt half as expensive as Pakistan’s.

And of course, being off the grey list means that you are out of immediate danger of being blacklisted.

 

[PetroDollars]

FATF is controlled by the G7, is it a coincidence that this comes straight after there big meetings in cornwal, where they also announced a counter to chinas BRI, pakistan would have been a big part of it.

However like i mentioned before, its silly to get emotional on biased decisions, the world works through the power of trade, economy and diplomacy which pakistan doesn't have, instead of whining about getting bullied, its high time pakistan started concentrating on these areas to progress itself otherwise they would forever remained bullied. Theres really nothing to complain about when the PM of the country calls OBL a shaheed, loves up the mullah regimes and talks about spreading blasphemy laws all over the world.

Pakistan needs to wake up, this is a different world compared to the ones what they study in school cherishing ancient barbarians, the era of the sword is over, now is the era of diplomacy, economic trade and science and technology, the quicker pakistan wakes up to these facts the better, even KSA is waking.

 

[cric_man]

If you don’t find the institution credible reject it. Why is the establishment trying to implement the points then? Nuclear power North Korea does not worry about engaging with FATF. Go the same way.

Then you cut yourself off from the rest (read US led Western) financial institutions.

 

[hoshiarpurexpress]

Then you cut yourself off from the rest (read US led Western) financial institutions.

Then pick the side of China and Russia to get full benefits and forget about the west.

 

[cric_man]

Then pick the side of China and Russia to get full benefits and forget about the west.

I am not an economist, but I don't think that is a viable option at the moment. You need to have international trade with majority of the world's countries. And to do so, you need to have access to financial institutions across the globe (majority are indirectly following US directions post 9/11).

 

[Last Monetarist]

https://www.dawn.com/news/1631579/some-powers-desire-to-keep-sword-of-fatf-hanging-over-pakistan-qureshi

Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on Saturday questioned the Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) decision to continue to keep Pakistan on the watchdog's "increased monitoring list", also known as the grey list, despite implementation on 26 out of 27 points included in the original action plan.

In a statement, Qureshi said there was "no room" to keep Pakistan on the grey list after it had implemented nearly the entire action plan, according to a report by Radio Pakistan.

The foreign minister said it needed to be looked into whether FATF was "being used for political purposes", adding "some powers desire to keep the sword of FATF hanging over Pakistan."

It was yet to be determined whether the FATF was a technical forum or a political one, the statement quoted him as saying.

Qureshi said whatever steps Pakistan took were in its own interests, emphasising that it was in Pakistan's interest to stop money laundering and terror financing.

A day earlier, FATF President Dr Marcus Pleyer said Pakistan would remain on the grey list till it addresses the single remaining item on the original action plan agreed to in June 2018 as well as all items on a parallel action plan handed out by the watchdog's regional partner — the Asia Pacific Group (APG) — in 2019.

"Pakistan has made significant progress and it has largely addressed 26 out of 27 items on the action plan it first committed to in June 2018," he said at a virtual press conference after the financial watchdog's five-day plenary meeting.

Pleyer, however, added that the item on financial terrorism still needed to be addressed which concerned the "investigation and prosecution of senior leaders and commanders of UN-designated terror groups".

He said Pakistan was still "failing to effectively implement the global FATF standards" across a number of areas.

When asked about the new action plan after the APG evaluation, Pleyer said the plan had "six action items including enhancing international cooperation and demonstrating that assistance is being sought from foreign countries in implementing UN Security Council designations".

Pleyer said even after the last remaining item on the original action plan was addressed, delisting would not occur as there was a parallel action plan that was also given.