The Senate passed on Friday the National Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Financing of Terrorism Authority Bill, 2023, a day after it was cleared by the National Assembly.

The bill aims to deal with offences pertaining to money-laundering and to further strengthen existing laws to effectively check illegal/corrupt practices which have a negative impact on the economy.

Speaking in the upper house, Minister of State for Foreign Hina Rabbani Khar – who moved the bill – said it is an effort by the government for the continuation of the work the state has done to get Pakistan out of the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) grey-list.

“Now we are ensuring that the continuation of that work happens in an institutionalised manner,” she said.

Khar said that the bill envisages the establishment of a National Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Financing of Terrorism Authority, headed by a chairman appointed by the prime minister.

She informed the upper house this authority will be made up of secretaries of finance, foreign affairs and interior as well as the governor State Bank of Pakistan.

It will also include chairmen of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan and National Accountability Bureau along with the directors-general of the Federal Investigation Agency, Anti-Narcotics Force and Federal Board of Revenue.

Director General Financial Monitoring Unit, national coordinator of National Counter-terrorism Authority and all provincial chief secretaries will also be part of the authority.

Khar said that the establishment of the authority will streamline the work happening within the government and different provinces.

“This will allow us to monitor our progress and if there are any loopholes, we can connect them before we run into any serious problem,” she said.

In October last year, the Paris-based global money laundering and terrorism financing watchdog removed Pakistan from the FATF ‘increased monitoring list’, also known as the ‘grey-list’ after a span of four years.