ISLAMABAD
\nMinister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar has declared that Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has acknowledged the completion of both action plans by Pakistan and the credit for it goes to the State and not to any political party. Ms Khar was addressing a presser in Islamabad on Saturday after her return from Berlin where she went to attend the plenary meeting of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
\nShe hoped that Pakistan would come off the FATF grey list by October. She hoped once the country was off the FATF watch list, our economy would be improved.
\nShe lauded the state\u2019s foremost measures aimed at stemming the financial aid to terrorists and discouraging money laundering. She said that Pakistan is now \u201cone step away\u201d from exiting the FATF grey list, and the planned on-site visit is a procedural requirement. \u201cThe 2018 action plan has been closed and no pendency of action remains on Pakistan\u2019s part,\u201d she said, adding Pakistan had submitted three progress reports to the FATF regarding an action plan given last year which was related to money laundering. \u201cI am pleased to announce that Pakistan has completed the entire seven-point action plan a year ahead of the given timelines,\u201d she added.
\nShe eulogized the efforts of the state for enabling Pakistan to complete the action plan given by the international financial watchdog and succeeded in exiting the vicious grey list. She, however, cautioned, that the forthcoming exit did not warrant any celebrations as she regarded celebrations as bit premature. She only hoped that the FATF would remain impartial.
\n\u201cThe process to come off the grey list has just begun. It\u2019s not the culmination, rather it\u2019s the beginning. We hope that Pakistan will come out of the list forever. Governments come and go. But the efforts which the state has made are commendable. We are ready to give credit to those who want this credit,\u201d she said jubilantly adding that she would rather give credit to her team and her team is \u2018Team Pakistan.\u2019
\nHina Khar said the development spoke volumes about the comprehensive reforms carried out in Pakistan in the anti-money laundering and counter terror financing (AML\/CFT) domain and credited the country\u2019s \u201csustained momentum and result of our efforts\u201d. \u201cConsequent to the fruitful discussions held at the plenary meeting, the FATF has decided by consensus that Pakistan has addressed all technical benchmarks and completed all action plans\u20132018 and 2021,\u201d she elaborated.
\nHina declared that the FATF has now cleared Pakistan and the process to get off the \u201cgrey list\u201d has been set into motion and a FATF team will visit Pakistan soon for the purpose. \u201cPakistan is one step away from exiting the FATF \u2018grey list\u2019 and we are closely working with FATF to arrange a meeting,\u201d Hina Khar said. The global anti-money laundering watchdog on Friday expressed satisfaction with Pakistan\u2019s performance but it stopped short of removing it from its \u2018grey list\u2019. In a delayed press conference about decisions taken in its plenary, the body\u2019s president Dr Marcus Pleyer said that a FATF team would conduct an on-site visit to Pakistan at the earliest possible date.
\n\u201cThe progress made and recognised by our commitment to improve our […] and CFT systems…,\u201d Hina remaked, adding that the FATF has decided that Pakistan has addressed all technical benchmarks and has completed all requirements of both action plans, that of 2018, and that of 2021.
\nIt was \u201cno less than Herculean feat\u201d and a \u201cremarkable achievement\u201d, Hina said, adding FATF has now authorised an on-site visit of its technical team to validate the process of the implementation of reforms. \u201cLet me emphasise because there might be some confusion, that this is part of the procedure of taking Pakistan out of the grey list,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ISLAMABAD Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar has declared that Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has acknowledged the completion of both action plans by Pakistan and the credit for it goes to the State and not to any political party. Ms Khar was addressing a presser in Islamabad on Saturday after her […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":257305,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4278,6198,1588],"class_list":{"0":"post-266747","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-top-news","8":"tag-fatf","9":"tag-hina-rabbani-khar","10":"tag-state"},"yoast_head":"\n