Terrorism: FATF's Asia Pacific Group keeps Pakistan on 'Enhanced Follow-up List'

According to sources, Pakistan's progress has remained unchanged -- non-compliant on four counts, reports ANI.

According to an APG report, "Whilst Pakistan published a National Risk Assessment (NRA) on Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing in 2017, the mutual evaluation report (MER) identified gaps in the process of developing and identifying threats, vulnerabilities and risks. The assessment of terrorist-financing risk was identified as 'perfunctory only'." 

"The MER also found that the 2017 NRA had not yet been widely circulated to private sector stakeholders and that sectors assessed as higher risk or higher vulnerability in Pakistan were not yet subject to comprehensive Anti-money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (AML/CFT) measures," the statement said as quoted by ANI.

Meanwhile, Pakistan seems to have hired a lobbyist firm on the  Capitol Hill to push a narrative favouring Islamabad with US President Donald Trump-led administration and get bailed out of the club of nations on the “grey list', just days ahead of the crucial Financial Action Task Force (FATF) meeting.

The FATF plenary and sub-groups meeting is scheduled to take place on Oct 21-23.

With all-weather friend and iron brother China, Ottoman empire revivalist Turkey and increasingly radicalised Malaysia behind Pakistan, there is no possibility of Islamabad getting pushed into FATF’s black list as only three out of 39 member states are required to block the proposal, reports Hindustan Times.

Islamabad, however, requires support of at least 12 out of 39 member states to remove its name from the grey list and this will largely depend on the approach the US will take at the Paris plenary, the Indian newspaper reported.

According to diplomats based in the US and Paris, the Pakistan foreign ministry has hired Houston (in Texas) based lobbying firm Linden Strategies to push its case with the Trump administration, reports Hindustan Times.

FATF and Pakistan:

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog.

The inter-governmental body sets international standards that aim to prevent these illegal activities and the harm they cause to society, read the official website.

As a policy-making body, the FATF works to generate the necessary political will to bring about national legislative and regulatory reforms in these areas.

FATF placed Pakistan in the grey list in June 2018 and asked for compliance of 27 action plans to come out from the scrutiny list until Sept 2019.

Pakistan has so far been given three times extension of three months, every time to comply with 27 action points, The News International reported.

Out of 27 points, the FATF had declared Pakistan fully compliant on 14 points and now there is the deadline of October 2020 for complying with the remaining 13 points, reported the Pakistani newspaper.