Final negotiations between government, FATF to begin on Monday

ISLAMABAD: Final negotiations between the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the government will begin in the federal capital on Monday (tomorrow).

According to sources, the FATF Asia-Pacific team will reach Pakistan tonight. The foreign delegation will meet officials of the ministries of finance and interior, the financial monitoring unit, and the state bank between October 7-19.

The FATF team will review the administrative and legal measures taken by Pakistan to stop the monetary assistance of terrorists, the sources said. 

According to the sources, the government has approved amendments, proposed by the financial watchdog, in the Anti Money Laundering (AML) and Countering Financing of Terrorism (CFT) Regulations 2018.  

Furthermore, several recommendations to determine money trail have also been given the green light. An alleged terrorist organisation, Al-Rahman Trust, has also been banned by the government, the sources added. 

The delegation is also expected to hold meetings with officials of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan and law enforcement agencies.

A report regarding measures taken by the government to curb the financial assistance of terrorists will be presented in a meeting of the FATF, scheduled to be held later this year.

In June, the FATF said Pakistan had made “a high-level political commitment” to work with the global watchdog and Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) to strengthen its anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism regime.

Pakistan was formally added to the grey list of countries involved in providing monetary assistance to terrorism and related causes after a June meeting of FATF in Paris.

FATF, a global body that combats terror financing and money laundering, had taken the decision to place Pakistan on its grey list during a plenary meeting in February this year. The country was also included in the list from 2012 to 2015.