A Near Escape for Pakistan in FATF

After the country’s financial system was assessed, it has been placed on the grey list for terrorist financing since June 2018. Islamabad has been observed closely for any such evidence. Although Beijing being friends with Pakistan did not choose any sides and Turkey was the only country that supported Pakistan.

Now again New Delhi as the co-chair of the Asia Pacific and Joint Group of FATF has demanded that Islamabad should be watched by Paris based watchdog’s blacklist. But due o FATF 36-nation charter you need support of three countries to avoid blacklist which Islamabad got from Turkey, China and Malaysia. But an official told that the danger is still not over. Although It got the support yet the deadlines given by FATF to completely stop money laundering and to find all the financial loopholes were yet to be done. FATF urged to complete them by May 2019.

The watchdogs agreed that Islamabad is making progress for action plan but in meeting in Guangzhou, It was asked to put more effort into it as out of 27 indicators only 9 seems satisfactory and that is a reason to worry. Many steps have been taken to make the action plan work that include currency exchange limitation, currency exchange with tax number and seizing of asserts of militant groups.

Pakistan has been connecting with its friends to help Islamabad be removed from grey list. This once happened in 2011 but Pakistan made it through in 2015 when the action plan was completed. Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi is on a state visit to UK as Pakistan needs 15 votes out of 36 to get out from the grey list. He said that London has agreed to support Pakistan. Ali Sarwar Naqvi who is a former ambassador told Anadolu Agency that this is a temporary relief; we need to get rid of this problem permanently. He said that perusing US will be difficult as they are opposing on the basis of politics and not on the grounds of FATF. An economist based in Karachi, Mohiuddin Aazim thinks that Pakistan will make out of the grey list but still support of countries like Saudi Arabia and US is important. He further said that keeping all measures to stop money laundering and terror financing is necessary to avoid the grey list.