Team News Riveting
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) announced on Thursday that Pakistan would continue to remain on the terror funding watchdog’s “increased monitoring list”, also known as the grey list.
“The item on financial terrorism still needed to be addressed which concerned the ‘investigation and prosecution of senior leaders and commanders of UN-designated terror groups’,” FATF President Dr Marcus Pleyer said while announcing the decision in a virtual press conference after the financial watchdog’s five-day plenary meeting.
Pakistan has been on the FATF’s grey list for deficiencies in its counter-terror financing and anti-money laundering regimes since June 2018. Until the last assessment, Pakistan was found deficient in acting against organisations allegedly linked to the terror groups listed by the UN Security Council, prosecuting and convicting banned individuals and tackling smuggling of narcotics and precious stones.
The FATF president had reiterated that Pakistan “must improve their investigations and prosecutions of all groups and entities financing terrorists and their associates and show [that] penalties by courts are effective. As soon as Pakistan shows it has completed these items, FATF will verify and members of FATF will vote.”
FATF had stressed that Pakistan should fully address three remaining points on the action plan: Demonstrating that TF (terrorism financing) investigations and prosecutions target persons and entities acting on behalf or at the direction of the designated persons or entities; demonstrating that TF prosecutions result in effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions; and demonstrating effective implementation of targeted financial sanctions against all 1267 and 1373 designated terrorists, specifically those acting for or on their behalf.
The continued ‘grey list’ tag means access to only high-cost debts. Many reports said that Pakistan will not get any respite in trying to access finances in the form of investments and aid from various international bodies including International Monetary Fund (IMF).The latest decision will add to its problems given its perilous financial situation.
