New Delhi

The Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has decided to keep Pakistan on the list of countries that need to recalibrate their system to check terrorism by choking their sources of funds.

The FATF plenary said Pakistan still needs to demonstrate action on the one remaining item  - pursuing the case of terror financing by senior leaders and commanders of UN designated terrorist groups.

This means that unless Pakistan shows convincingly that it has taken action against the likes of Hafiz Syed, the Lashkar-e-toiba supremo, and other UN-designated terror groups and terrorists, it would continue to be placed on what is commonly known as the grey list of FATF.

Hazif Saeed is the mastermind of the Mumbai terror attacks of 2008 and India has been asking for his custory to make him face charges in the case in an Indian court. Pakistan, on the other hand, has arrested Saeed only to safeguard him while he was lodged in plush guest houses.  

Though FATF, in its plenary, has appreciated Pakistan for complying with 26 of the 27 points raised by the FATF to make the country compliant with internationally accepted standards of anti-money laundering (AML) and combating the financing of terrorism (CFT) law followed by demonstrated actions on their implementation, it has pointed deficiency in taking action against the UN designated terrorists and terror groups in terror financing.  

The FATF released the following statement:

“Since June 2018, when Pakistan made a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and APG to strengthen its AML/CFT regime and to address its strategic counter-terrorist financing-related deficiencies, Pakistan's continued political commitment has led to significant progress across a comprehensive CFT action plan.

“Pakistan has completed 26 of the 27 action items in its 2018 action plan. The FATF encourages Pakistan to continue to make progress to address, as soon as possible, the one remaining item by continuing to demonstrate that TF investigations and prosecutions target senior leaders and commanders of UN designated terrorist groups.

“In response to additional deficiencies later identified in Pakistan's 2019 APG Mutual Evaluation Report (MER), in June 2021. Pakistan provided further high-level commitment to address these strategic deficiencies pursuant to a new action plan that primarily focuses on combating money laundering Since June 2021.

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“Pakistan has taken swift steps towards improving its AML/CFT regime and completed 6 of the 7 action items ahead of any relevant deadlines expiring, including by demonstrating that it is enhancing the impact of sanctions by nominating individuals and entities for UN designation and restraining and confiscating proceeds of crime in line with Pakistan's risk profile.

“Pakistan should continue to work to address remaining item in its 2021 action plan by demonstrating a positive and sustained trend of pursuing complex ML (money laundering) investigations and prosecutions.”