In yet another major setback, Pakistan on Friday failed to get off the ‘grey list’ of Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global watchdog for terror-funding and money laundering.
The Imran Khan-led government lost Pakistan’s bid at the FATF because of its failure to comply with the requirements of the Paris-based watchdog. Pakistan, already facing severe economic and financial crisis, has been in the grey list since 2018.
Being in the grey list makes it difficult for the already debt-ridden Islamic Republic to get financial aid from international agencies.
India has been persistently protesting against Pakistan’s continued cross-border terrorism in Kashmir and its inaction against the mastermind and planners of the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks.
The banned terror outfits, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Hizbul Mujahideen, and their chiefs Hafiz Saeed, Masood Azhar and Syed Salahuddin, continue to get state patronage and protection in Pakistan.
A report of the United Nations Security Council released earlier this year said the three terror groups are collaborating with Al Qaeda and Taliban in Afghanistan.
India on Thursday had strongly recommended that Pakistan, which continues to provide safe havens to the banned terror groups, should continue on the grey list.
On Friday, after concluding its three-day virtual plenary session, the FATF decided to keep Pakistan in its grey list. Sources said Pakistan had failed to comply with at least six of the 27 points in the FATF’s action plan.
“Since June 2018, Pakistan made a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and the APG to strengthen its AML/CFT regime and to address its strategic counter-terrorist financing-related deficiencies. Pakistan’s continued political commitment had led to progress in a number of areas in its action plan.
“Taking action to identify and sanction illegal MVTS, implementing cross-border currency and BNI controls, improving international cooperation in terrorist financing cases, passing amendments to the ATA to increase the sanctioning authority, financial institutions implementing targeted financial sanctions and applying sanctions for AML/CFT violations, and controlling facilities and services owned or controlled by designated persons and entities,” read the FATF decision on Pakistan.
FATF has reiterated that Pakistan needs to continue working on the implementation of its action plan and address its strategic deficiencies, which include:
* Demonstrating that law enforcement agencies (LEAs) are identifying and investigating the widest range of terrorist financing (TF) activity and that TF investigations and prosecutions target designated persons and entities, and those acting on behalf or at the direction of the designated persons and entities.
* Demonstrating that TF prosecutions result in effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions.
* Demonstrating effective implementation of targeted financial sanctions against all 1267 and 1373 designated terrorists and those acting for or on their behalf, preventing the raising and moving of funds including in relation to non-profit organizations (NPOs), identifying and freezing assets (movable or immovable), and prohibiting access to funds and financial services.
* Demonstrating enforcement against TFS violations, including in relation to NPOs, of administrative and criminal penalties and provincial and federal authorities cooperating on enforcement cases.
