Pakistan: FATF team to examine steps taken against terror financing
What's the story
A second team of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is in Pakistan to hold meetings with top officials to discuss the measures taken by the country to counter terror financing after it was added in the 'grey list' for providing monetary assistance to terrorists. The nine-member delegation, comprising members of FATF's Asia Pacific Group (APG), arrived in Islamabad on October 7.
Information
FATF team comprises experts from across the world
The team includes experts from British Scotland Yard, US Treasury Department, Financial Intelligence Unit of Maldives, Indonesian Finance Ministry, Peoples' Bank of China, and Justice Department of Turkey. They will see the implementation of the action plan Pakistan had issued earlier this year.
Plan
Pakistan, FATF had negotiated a 10-point action plan
The team will carry out on-site inspections to see if the systems and mechanisms have been put in place while its three members will stay for a longer period to review progress on the 10-point action plan agreed with Pakistan. Pakistan has to implement the plan by September 2019 to enable smooth exit from the grey list, in which it got added in June.
Information
Pakistan has done its homework, says its Ministry of Finance
Meanwhile, sources in Pakistan's Ministry of Finance said that "Pakistan has done its homework" and the delegation will be briefed about the measures to curb terror financing through money laundering and illegal remittances. The team is on a 12-day visit to the South Asian country.
Meetings
FATF to meet officials from Ministries of Finance, Foreign Affairs
Earlier in August, a FATF team had visited Islamabad to identify deficiencies in Pakistan's anti-money laundering/counter-terror financing laws and mechanisms. During the current visit, the experts will meet officials from Ministries of Interior, Finance, Foreign affairs, and Law. They are also likely to meet officials of State Bank of Pakistan, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, National Counter-Terrorism Authority, Federal Investigation Agency among others.