Pakistan To Remain On FATF 'Grey' List, Final Decision After Onsite Visit By Review Committee

The FATF in its last plenary held in Paris in March, had stated that Pakistan had completed 26 of the 27 action items that it was required to do in its 2018 action plan.

(Representative Image/ Getty)

The global terror financing watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on Friday said that it would not remove Pakistan from its "Grey" list after a meeting in Berlin which took place between June 14 to 17. According to reports, the neighbouring country will continue to be on FATF Grey list and a decision in regards to its removal from list will be taken after an onsite visit to the nation.

However, the FATF noted that Pakistan has completed its two action plans and it warrants an on-site visit to verify whether the implementation of the reforms has begun and is being sustained. 

FATF also pointed out that it needs to be seen "that the necessary political commitment remains in place to sustain implementation and improvement in future". 

"Pakistan is not being removed from the grey list today. It will be removed if the onsite visit finds its actions are sustainable," said FATF president Marcus Pleyer said adding that an onsite inspection would be done in August and a formal announcement on Pakistan's removal would follow.

FATF is an international watchdog that monitors money laundering, terror financing, and other threats to global financial networks and put sanctions on countries that have not done enough to curb channels of terror finance. 

The FATF in its last plenary held in Paris in March, had stated that Pakistan had completed 26 of the 27 action items that it was required to do in its 2018 action plan.

However, the one remaining condition that it had not met was carrying out investigations in terror funding and prosecutions of senior leaders and commanders of UN designated terrorist groups.

According to reports, Pakistan has also met 6 of the 7 action plans that it was asked to follow in June 2021 related to money laundering, according to FATF.

FATF's International Co-operation Review Group (ICRG) is likely to visit Pakistan in August and analyse if the country has fulfilled over 30 of the 34 conditions put forth by the agency.

Countries including Pakistan, Syria, Turkey, Myanmar, Philippines, South Sudan, Uganda, and Yemen are among 23 nations on the FATF's grey list. Pakistan has been on the FATF grey list continuously since June 2018.

It is being said that after coming to power in April this year, the Shehbaz Sharif-led Pakistan government has been trying to mend its relations with the US, UK, and EU nations and has been banking on them to come out of the grey list.

Sharif has sent the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar as the head of the delegation to make Pakistan's case for being taken off the "Grey" list of countries of "jurisdictions under increased monitoring". According to reports, even China has promised to support Pakistan.