Berlin
\nThe Financial Action Task Force (FATF) said on Friday that Pakistan had met all 34 items on two separate action plans, adding that the watchdog will now schedule an on-site visit to verify the implementation and sustainability of the country\u2019s money laundering and counter-terrorism financing measures before removing it from its increased monitoring list, also known as the grey list.
\nAccording to a statement by the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog, Pakistan has substantially completed all items on both its action plans, which showed that necessary political commitment was in place to sustain implementation and improvement in the future.
\nWhile announcing the watchdog\u2019s decision, FATF President Dr Marcus Pleyer acknowledged the reforms implemented by the country, saying \u201cthey are good for the stability and security of the country\u201d.
\nHe, however, added that \u201cPakistan is not being removed from the grey list today. The country will be removed from the list if it successfully passes the on-site visit\u201d. Pleyer said Pakistan will have to ensure [during the visit] that it effectively tackled money laundering and funding of terrorist groups.
\n\u201cPakistan 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\u2019s risk profile,\u201d the watchdog\u2019s written statement said.
\nPakistan also largely addressed its 2021 action plan ahead of the set times, it added.
\nSoon after the development, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar congratulated the country, saying the international community had \u201cunanimously\u201d acknowledged the country\u2019s efforts.
\n\u201cOur success is the result of four years of a challenging journey. Pakistan reaffirms resolve to continue the momentum and give our economy a boost,\u201d she said.
\nIn a video message, Khar said \u201cnow our process of exiting the grey list as per the FATF procedure starts, according to which a technical evaluation team will be sent to Pakistan.
\n\u201cIt is our full effort that this team completes its work before October\u2019s plenary cycle and we have told them that we will ensure their comfort and ease,\u201d she said, adding that the process would come to an end in October.
\nMinister for Poverty Alleviation and Social Safety Shazia Marri also praised the development as \u201cgood news\u201d.
\nShe said Pakistan had covered a lot of ground in confronting money laundering and countering terror financing through implementing the action plans.
\n\u201cThe engagement with FATF has led to the development of a strong AML\/CFT framework in Pakistan and resulted in improving of our systems to cope with future challenges,\u201d she said.
\nThe FATF decision came during a press conference after the conclusion of a four-day plenary session that began in Berlin, Germany, on Tuesday.
\nDelegates representing 206 FATF members and observers \u2014 including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the United Nations, the World Bank, and the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units \u2014 attended the plenary session.
\nDiplomatic sources earlier told Dawn that China and some other allies were quietly working to get Pakistan off the grey list latest during the latest plenary session.
\nRecent reports in the international media also mentioned this \u201cquiet lobbying\u201d, led by China, and one Indian media outlet reported that the plenary session \u201cis likely to decide to move Pakistan out from the list of countries under increased monitoring, commonly known as its grey list\u201d.
\nSeveral politicians, mostly from the PTI, and journalists posted on social media today that the FATF had removed Pakistan from the grey list. However, at the time, Khar, who was leading Pakistan\u2019s delegation in Berlin, cautioned that prejudging the outcome and speculative reporting should be avoided.
\nShe pointed out that the plenary meetings were still ongoing and the FATF would issue a statement tonight after their conclusion.
\nShe added that a press conference would be held at the foreign ministry on Saturday (tomorrow) in this regard.
\nInformation Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb also called for an end to speculations about the plenary session\u2019s outcomes, terming them inappropriate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Berlin The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) said on Friday that Pakistan had met all 34 items on two separate action plans, adding that the watchdog will now schedule an on-site visit to verify the implementation and sustainability of the country\u2019s money laundering and counter-terrorism financing measures before removing it from its increased monitoring list, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":266594,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[8604,4278,8564,20],"class_list":{"0":"post-266576","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news","8":"tag-action-plan","9":"tag-fatf","10":"tag-grey-list","11":"tag-pakistan"},"yoast_head":"\n