Threat of being blacklisted by FATF has been averted, says Hammad Azhar

• Hammad Azhar says Pakistan was given the “world’s toughest action plan” by the global watchdog
• Minister says that Pakistan has fulfilled 90% of the objectives required by FATF
• Hammad Azhar says last three tasks required by Pakistan focus on NGO regulation” and will require “tougher measures”

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ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Industries and Production Hammad Azhar assured the nation on Friday that the threat of Pakistan being blacklisted by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) had been averted.

“We want to reassure the nation that the threat of blacklisting Pakistan has been averted,” said the federal minister while addressing a press conference in Islamabad, a day after the FATF granted the country four more months to complete the action plan.

The minister said that Pakistan was given the “world’s toughest action plan” by the global watchdog on money laundering. 

He further said that a mere two of the 27 points had been addressed when the ruling party came into power country two years ago, but since then Pakistan has fulfilled 24 of those overall requirments.

Read more: Pakistan says it is committed to complying with FATF action plan

Azhar explained that when the action plan was announced, the first objective was to ensure that Pakistan avoided the blacklist. 

He also quoted the FATF as saying that Pakistan has fulfilled 90% of the objectives.

He assured that the last three items on the list will be “fulfilled by Pakistan by June”.

Highlighting the government’s commitment in fulfilling the objectives, the minister said that Pakistan had the option to not report back to FATF during the coronavirus pandemic but it still did so.

“We had the option to not report during the coronavirus pandemic [but] Pakistan fulfilled its objectives during the difficult times of coronavirus,” said Azhar. 

He termed the country’s performance as “exemplary”.

Read more: 'If decisions are based on merit, Pakistan will be removed from FATF's grey list'

“We are trying to meet all 27 conditions by June,” assured the minister as he explained to the journalists that it was difficult to implement the complete plan as each task was different from the other.

He said that the last three tasks required by Pakistan focus on “non-profit organisations' regulation” and will require “tougher measures”.

'Committed to complying with FATF action plan'

Earlier on Thursday, Pakistan reaffirmed its commitment to continue strengthening the AML/CFT regime in line with global standards and comply with the FATF's action plan.

The statement from the Ministry of Finance was issued after the FATF appreciated Pakistan for the significant progress made by the country on the entire action plan.

The plenary meetings of the global watchdog were held virtually from 22-25 February 2021, where its members discussed a range of topics relating to Pakistan’s progress.

Read more: Ahead of FATF review, FBR asks jewellers to keep record of cash transactions

Pakistan’s delegation in the FATF Plenary was led by Muhammad Hammad Azhar, the Chairman of the FATF Coordination Committee / Federal Minister for Industries and Production and attended by senior officers from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, NACTA, the FMU, the National FATF Secretariat and other key stakeholders.

The ministry, in its statement, said that Pakistan has undertaken enormous work to strengthen its anti-money laundering regime and address the strategic counter-terrorist financing related deficiencies.

Pakistan to remain on grey list until June

The same day, the FATF had said that Pakistan will remain under "increased monitoring" when it comes to terror financing, therefore, it will remain on the grey list until June 2021.

Speaking via a live video link, the FATF President Dr Marcus Pleyer said that while FATF recognises Pakistan's counter-terrorism efforts, there are still some serious deficiencies that the country needs to address.

"Out of the 27 conditions of the action plan, three still need to be addressed," he said. "I recognise Pakistan's efforts, and out of the six tasks that it had to complete, three had been done, but it substantially needs to work on the remaining three in terms of terror financing."

Pleyer stressed that Pakistan must continue to work on the items that it has committed to and make sure that it meets all the requirements, adding that FATF will once again review Pakistan's efforts in June 2021.

Read more: The path out of the FATF 'grey list'

Replying to a question related to terrorists' prosecution in Pakistan, he said that the body is "not an investigative organisation," and that it "does not look at single incidents but takes a look at the entire framework" [to decide a country's status].

He said that the risk of Pakistan being put on the blacklist was still there, and that the country must continue to work on outstanding action points to fix its financial monitoring mechanisms.

"The deadline for Pakistan [to meet the 27 conditions] had expired, that is why the body had urged Pakistani authorities to ramp up their efforts in dealing with the items."

Back in October 2020, the FATF had acknowledged that of the 27 conditions that were put forth to Pakistan, 21 had been fulfilled while six were left.