Before the plenary meeting of the watchdog, which will decide Pakistan’s fate, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar promised that the country would soon be removed from the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) grey list.
On October 20–21, the inaugural FATF plenary under T Raja Kumar’s two-year Singapore Presidency will take place. The day after its meeting, the watchdog will hold a press conference to reveal its findings.
The FATF inspection team visited Pakistan last month to evaluate the laws, norms, and institutional mechanisms before deciding whether to take the nation off the “grey list.”
Pakistan was added to the FATF’s grey list in June 2018, and despite Islamabad’s best efforts, it was not taken off the list. Ironically, Pakistan had to implement two distinct action plans at once, but it has now finished implementing all of them.
The FATF team examined the systems and processes put in place by the ministries, pertinent departments, regulators, and law enforcement organisations to determine whether or not they were long-term solutions to combat money laundering and terrorism funding.
The oversight team’s visit in September, according to the Foreign Office, was “smooth and successful,” and the conversations took place in a “constructive and positive mood.”
