Federal Economic Affairs Minister Hammad Azhar on Wednesday expressed confidence that Pakistan was progressing positively in the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) action plan and that it would leave its & # 39; gray list & # 39; in 2020.
The FATF, a global control agency for money laundering and terrorist financing, gave Pakistan a four-month lifeline last Friday, urging Islamabad to fulfill its commitments by February 2020.
At a press conference in Islamabad, Azhar, who led the Pakistani delegation at the FATF five-day plenary session in Paris last week, said the country's progress had been duly recognized in the September report of the watchman.
He said that considerable progress had been made on many points of the action plan in a short period of 10 months. Until September, the action in five of the 27 elements of the FATF action plan was incomplete, while in the rest it was completely or partially complete.
Pakistan's performance against money laundering and the fight against terrorist financing (AML / CFT) was appreciated at the FATF plenary session, he added.
Azhar said some sections were campaigning to merge the action plans of the Asia Pacific Group (APG) and the FATF International Cooperation Review Group (ICRG), which could have created many difficulties for Pakistan with the number of elements of action exceeding 100. Completion He added that the APG and ICRG action plans for February next year would not have been feasible for Pakistan.
However, in a victory for Pakistan, it was decided that the country will be able to take advantage of the APG observation period until October 2020 and will not merge with the ICRG action plan.
Azhar said that Pakistan's APG action plan will be implemented in parallel with the ICRG action plan, but that the latter was the "first priority" for the country. He expressed the hope that the ICRG action plan will be completed in June 2020.
The minister said that a dedicated autonomous secretariat was being established for matters related to the FATF, which will work in coordination with all provinces and departments.
In addition, special cells have also been established in all relevant government departments to meet the FATF requirements, he added.
He commended the Financial Monitoring Unit, the State Bank of Pakistan, the Pakistan Securities and Exchange Commission, the armed forces and law enforcement agencies, all provincial governments and the Federal Revenue Board for their efforts to achieve The objectives of the action plan.
He said the final report on Pakistan's progress after September will be presented to the FATF in January, before its next plenary session.
The minister said that the finalization of the FATF action plan would improve the capacity of national institutions and maintain the standard for following international best practices in the country.
Source: https://www.dawn.com/news/1512499/pakistan-to-complete-all-points-of-fatf-action-plan-by-next-year-hammad-azhar