Pakistan remains on FATF grey list

Sandeep Dikshit
TRIBUNE NEW SERVICE
NEW DELHI, JUNE 25

The global Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has decided to keep Pakistan on the grey list of nations requiring constant monitoring till it demonstrates that terror-financing investigations and prosecutions target senior leaders and commanders of UN-designated terrorist groups, FATF Chairman Marcus Pleyer told the media on Friday.

“Though the Pakistan government has made substantial progress and largely addressed 26 out of the 27 action points, it is still failing to implement global FATF standards in a number of areas. This means the risk of money laundering remains high in turn fuelling corruption and organised crime,’’ said Pleyer at the end of the FATF’s virtual plenary that ended today.

Pakistan also remains the subject of investigation by FATF’s regional body, the Asia Pacific Group (APG) regarding “serious issues” on money laundering and terror-financing. The implication is that even if Pakistan completes all 27 action points given by FATF, it will also have to clear the APG hurdle. Pakistan will also be subjected to on-site investigations by both FATF and APG before it is cleared.

FATF is the second international body where the issue of Pakistan’s mollycoddling of UN-designated terrorists, including from LeT and JeM, has been tabled. At the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation’s (SCO) meeting of National Security Advisors on Wednesday, Ajit Doval, had proposed an action plan against LeT and JeM.

Doval also pressed for full implementation of UN resolutions and targeted sanctions against UN-designated terrorist individuals and entities as well as adoption of international standards to counter terror-financing, including an MoU between the SCO and FATF.

An attempt by Pakistani journalists to corner India on the issue of its police unearthing stolen uranium could not materialise. Pleyer said he was aware of the media reports in this regard but “will not comment on something in India we haven’t assessed”.