BERLIN/ISLAMABAD: The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) today announced that Pakistan has completed its two action plans and would be removed from the grey list after it passes the on-site visit.
“The FATF will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation and conduct an on-site visit to Pakistan to verify competion of FATF action plans prior to removal from the grey list,” said the watchdog on Friday evening.
The watchdog noted that since June 2018, when Pakistan made a high-level political commitment to work with FATF, Islamabad continued its political commitment to combating both terror financing and money laundering that led to significant progress.
“In particular, Pakistan demonstrated that terror financing investigations and prosecutions target senior leaders and commanders of UN designated terrorist groups and that there is a positive upwards trend in the number of money laundering investigations and prosecutions being pursued in Pakistan, in line with Pakistan’s risk profile. In addition, Pakistan also largely addressed its 2021 action plan ahead of the set times,” said FATF.
Pakistan to be removed from grey list after passing on-site visit
FATF President Dr Marcus Pleyer, while addressing a press conference after the plenary meeting, noted that Pakistani authorities have done a lot of work.
“I’m glad to say that they have now largely addressed all 34 action items from their combined two action plans. Pakistan is not being removed from grey list today. The country will be removed from the list if it successfully passes the on-site visit,” said Dr Pleyer.
Hina Rabbani Khar congratulates Pakistan
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar — who was leading Pakistan’s delegation at the plenary session in Berlin — congratulated Pakistanis after the watchdog declared both action plans complete.
“International community has unanimously acknowledged our efforts. Our success is the result of four years of challenging journey. Pak reaffirms resolve to continue the momentum and give our economy a boost,” said Khar while congratulating the Pakistan team at FATF.
