INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Pakistan is currently placed on the FATF'S 'grey list'
(File photo)Islamabad: Pakistan has submitted a comprehensive 26-point action plan to the Financial Action Task Force or FATF to choke the
funding of terrorist groups, including Mumbai attack mastermind Hafiz Saeed-led JuD and its affiliates, to avoid being blacklisted by it,
according to a media report.The FATF is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and
other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.Currently placed on the FATF'S 'grey list', Pakistan has been
scrambling in recent months to avoid being added to a list of countries deemed non-compliant with anti-money laundering and terrorist
financing regulations by the FATF, a measure that officials here fear could hurt its economy, which is already under strain.Discussion
started yesterday at the FATF plenary in Paris on Pakistan's 26-point action plan spanning over a period of 15 months, the Express Tribune
reported.Quoting sources in the Ministry of Finance, the paper said that Pakistan's plan envisages choking the financing of terrorist groups
like Da'esh (ISIS), Al Qaeda, Jamaat-ud Dawa and its affiliates Falah-e-Insaniyat Foundation (FIF) and Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT),
Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM), the Haqqani Network and persons affiliated with the Taliban.A formal announcement about Pakistan's status is
This is for the first time that all 26 actions have been published in detail, the report said.The plan requires Pakistani authorities to
proactively cooperate with counterpart bilateral agencies to choke financing for terror groups.The sources said that the plan was quite
ambitious and added that the country was committed to proving to the world that it was ready to go an extra mile to curb money laundering,
despite its reservations that the plan was politically motivated.Pakistan will have to deliver on the first goal by January next year and
complete all the 26 actions by September 2019, the sources said.In February 2018, the FATF approved the nomination of Pakistan for
monitoring under its International Cooperation Review Group (ICRG) commonly known as 'Grey List'.If the FATF endorses the 26-point Action
Plan, it will formally place Pakistan on the grey list
In case the FATF rejects the plan, Pakistan will be on the FATF's Public Statement, being called the Blacklist.The sources said that nine
commitments in the plan are about concerns regarding the UNSC resolutions, eight commitments to address concerns regarding terrorism
financing prosecution, four are about curbing currency movement across the border and five relate to improvement in the supervision
mechanisms of banks and companies.By January, Pakistan will start proactively initiating financial inquiries of terrorist groups and their
By September 2019, Pakistan will address the key concern of identifying and investigating the widest range of terrorism financing activities
like the collection, movement or use of funds by September next year, according to the plan.It will give special focus to curb cash
smuggling, narcotics trafficking, misuse of non-profit organisations, particularly funding of the terrorist groups including Da'ish, Al
Qaeda, JuD, Faleh-e-Insaniat Foundation, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jesh-e-Mohammad, Haqqani Network and persons affiliated with the Taliban.By May,
Pakistan will show that terrorism financing prosecutions successfully result in effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions against
natural and legal persons convicted of terrorism financing offences.It will also proactively provide international cooperation in cases of
targeting, investigating and prosecuting terrorism financing cases.The sources said that Pakistan has committed that by January 2019 it will
demonstrate that terrorism financing risks are properly identified, assessed and understood by the State Bank of Pakistan and the Securities
and Exchange Commission of Pakistan.Pakistan has committed that within six months it will make sure that the nature of risks of cash
couriers being used for terrorism financing are fully understood and taken care of.By January next year, Pakistan will publish updated lists
of persons and entities proscribed under the Anti-Terrorism Act and the UN-designated entities.The sources said that Pakistan will also show
that facilities and services owned or controlled by designated persons and entities are deprived of their resources and their usage.
