PM for finalising legislation to deal with money laundering

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan Friday directed that a new legislation should be finalised within a week’s time to effectively deal with the offenses relating to money laundering and to further strengthen existing laws to effectively check Hawala, Hundi and other illegal practices that were negatively impacting the country’s economy.

He also approved a package to further incentivise remittances through legal channels. The decisions were taken during a high-level meeting at the PM Office.

The meeting was attended by Finance Minister Asad Umar, Attorney General Anwar Mansoor Khan, Special Assistant to PM Zulfiqar Abbas Bukhari, Special Assistant to PM Iftikhar Durrani, federal secretaries, FIA director general, NADRA chairman, State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) deputy governor and other senior officials.

The meeting decided that the SBP, being the regulatory authority in the banking sector, would take action against elements who were involved in facilitating, opening and operating of fake accounts in the country.

The prime minister also tasked finance secretary to submit recommendations for regulating trade under Pak-Afghan Transit Trade Agreement with an aim to effectively check misuse of the agreement.

It was also decided during the meeting that necessary amendments would be introduced in the existing laws, including Anti-Money Laundering Act 2010 to further strengthen these laws for effectively dealing with the cases of money laundering and other illegal practices.

The interior secretary informed the meeting that task forces, at national as well as provincial levels, had been constituted with an aim to identify legislative and administrative constraints in effective implementation of AML activities and to suggest corrective measures towards its eradication.

The provincial task forces have been mandated to take timely action against individuals or institutions involved in activities falling within the domains of Hawala or Hundi.

The national task force will submit monthly report to the PM Office on performance including coordinated actions undertaken and recoveries effected.

The interior secretary also identified various other actions including making the Islamabad International Airport as a model airport with regards to inter-agency coordination and installation of truck scanners at Torkham that were aimed at checking money laundering, smuggling and other illegal practices.

The premier also approved a package for enhancement of incentives for remittances through legal channels. It was further decided to increase airtime to Rs2 against each US dollar received through M Wallet.

The meeting decided that banks or exchange companies would be reimbursed Rs1 per US dollar as marketing expenses and promotional activities on remittances exceeding 15 percent in FY19 compared to FY18.

The prime minister also approved a proposal for launch of awareness campaign by the SBP for remittance customers. The budgetary impact of the package has been estimated around Rs2.3 billion.