FATF to decide about Pakistan's status this month

The FATF plenary was initially slated to take place, but the global watchdog against financial crimes temporarily postponed all mutual evaluations and follow-up deadlines in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic. In February, the FATF had given Pakistan a four-month grace period to complete its 27-point action plan after it noted that Islamabad had delivered on 14 points but missed 13 other targets.

Islamabad: A virtual meeting of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) plenary scheduled for October 21-23 will decide if Pakistan should be excluded from its ‘grey list, based on a review of Islamabad's actions against money laundering and terror financing, it was reported on Monday.

The FATF plenary was initially slated to take place, but the global watchdog against financial crimes temporarily postponed all mutual evaluations and follow-up deadlines in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the media reports.

The Paris-based agency also put a general pause in the review process, thus giving Pakistan an additional four months to meet the requirements.

In February, the FATF had given Pakistan a four-month grace period to complete its 27-point action plan after it noted that Islamabad had delivered on 14 points but missed 13 other targets.

On July 28, the government reported to Parliament compliance with 14 points of the 27-point action plan and with 10 of the 40 recommendations of the FATF.

By September 16, however, the joint session of the parliament amended about 15 laws to upgrade its legal system matching international standards as required by the FATF.

The government has already submitted its report to the FATF and its affiliated review groups and responded to their comments, detailing compliance with the 13 outstanding action points, according to the media reports.

The plenary had formally placed Pakistan in the grey list in June 2018 due to ‘strategic deficiencies'.

(With inputs from IANS)