FO terms FATF technical team's visit to Pakistan 'smooth and successful'

The Foreign Office (FO) said Wednesday that Financial Action Task Force's (FATF) technical team held detailed discussions with relevant agencies in Pakistan during its recent visit to the country, highlighting that from Islamabad's perspective, "it was a smooth and successful visit."

"The focus of the visit was to validate on ground Pakistan’s high-level commitment and sustainability of reforms in our AML/CFT regime. The meetings with the FATF team were held in a constructive and positive atmosphere.

The Report of the FATF Onsite team will be discussed in FATF’s ICRG (International Cooperation Review Group) and Plenary meetings, scheduled to be held in the third week of October 2022 in Paris. Pakistan is looking forward to a logical conclusion to the ongoing evaluation process," the FO said in a statement.

Pakistan and FATF: the next steps

Reflecting on the status of Pakistan’s progress, the FO noted that FATF’s latest evaluation of Pakistan supersedes its findings in previous years.

"As a result of Pakistan’s strenuous and consistent efforts over the last four years, Pakistan has not only achieved a high degree of technical compliance with FATF standards it has also ensured a high level of effectiveness through the implementation of two comprehensive FATF Action Plans, and it is committed to continuing its efforts in this regard."

The Foreign Office said that Pakistan has now been rated as "Compliant / Largely Compliant in 38 out of 40 FATF Recommendations," underlining that the progress made so far, places the country "among the top compliant countries in the world."

It said that the completion of both Action Plans by Pakistan in June 2022 was an acknowledgment by FATF of attaining a high level of effectiveness on the forum's standards.

"Over the last four years, Pakistan’s effectiveness in AML/CFT regime has increased across all Immediate Outcomes, which has significantly mitigated risks and threats of money laundering and financing of terrorism," the statement added.