Fate under scan: FATF to decide if Pakistan remains on “gray list”

Pakistan’s fate in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) will be under scrutiny this week, as the global finance watchdog holds its plenary session from Monday.
A decision will be made on whether Islamabad remains on the graylist or exits it, although New Delhi has been pushing for its blacklisting for three years.
“Under the German chairmanship of Dr Marcus Pleyer, delegates representing 205 members of the Global Network and observer organizations, including the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations and the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units will participate in the virtual plenary meeting of the FATF, ”the FATF said in a statement Monday.
The result will be announced on June 25.
For five days, they will discuss key issues to strengthen global action against the financial flows that fuel crime and terrorism, the FATF said.
The Asia-Pacific Group on Money Laundering has maintained Pakistan on “enhanced monitoring” status for outstanding needs, and Islamabad will continue to report to it on the country’s progress to strengthen its implementation of measures to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism.
Pakistan was graylisted by the Paris-based FATF in June 2018, and the country is struggling to come out of it. The Asia-Pacific Group (APG) is a regional subsidiary of the FATF.
The second follow-up report (FUR) on Pakistan’s mutual evaluation published by the APG also downgraded Pakistan on one criterion.
The FATF statement said they would hear progress from some jurisdictions identified as posing a risk to the financial system.
The FATF will finalize key reports, including on money laundering and environmental crime, the financing of ethnically and racially motivated terrorism, and two reports that explore the opportunities that technology can offer to improve anti-money laundering efforts. money and terrorist financing. It will also finalize its second 12-month review of the implementation of the revised FATF Standards for Virtual Assets and Virtual Asset Service Providers, as well as guidance on assessing and mitigating funding risks. proliferation.
The results of the FATF plenary will be published on June 25 at the end of the meeting, it was specified.
Pakistan is now compliant or largely compliant with 31 of the 40 FATF Recommendations. The report date for this assessment was October 1, 2020, meaning that Islamabad may have made further progress since then which will be assessed at a later stage.