FATF Plenary: What measures has Pakistan taken to be excluded from ‘grey list’?

The plenary meeting of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is taking place from October 21-23, the meeting would decide Pakistan’s stay on the grey list on Friday.

However, the government of Pakistan has taken a number of measures to get the country out of the ‘grey list’.

In order to achieve the FATF 27-points target, Pakistan took tough steps in line with the targets set by the FATF. Under the legislation, permission of State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) is required to take $10,000 abroad.

The buying and selling of gold, jewels, precious stones and metals also needs to be documented. If the value of any transaction exceeds Rs 2 million, it has been made mandatory to submit an identity card.

The government also made necessary amendments in the Companies Act to eliminate anonymous shareholders. In order to curb money laundering and terrorist financing, the registration of a prize bond of Rs 40,000 and anonymous bonds was canceled.

Furthermore, Pakistan arrested the leaders of banned organizations, registered cases and froze the assets and accounts of these outfits in accordance with UN guidelines.

The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) has also been given the power to take action against those involved in money laundering. A strict law was also passed to keep the involved persons in custody for 180 days

It may be recalled that Pakistan was included in the FATF grey list in June 2018. Pakistan got a four-month period from the FATF in February 2020, to complete a 27-point action plan against money laundering and terror financing after noting that Pakistan has delivered on 14 points but missed 13 other targets.