PARIS: The global terror financing watchdog, Financial Action Task Force (FATF), will hold a meeting from October 20 to 22 to discuss strengthening global action against crime and terrorist financing.
The meeting will be held under the German presidency of Dr Marcus Pleyer, where delegates representing 205 members of the global network and observer organisations, including the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the United Nations (UN) and the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units, will take part.
According to a statement issued on Tuesday, delegates would discuss key issues to strengthen global action against the financial flows that fuel crime and terrorism during the meeting.
“The FATF will finalise key reports, including the revised guidance on virtual assets and their service providers and discuss the next steps to strengthen its standards on transparency of beneficial ownership,” the statement read.
Delegates will also discuss the outcomes of the FATF’s survey to identify areas where divergent anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing rules or their implementation cause friction for cross-border payments.
The FATF will also update its statements identifying jurisdictions with strategic deficiencies in their measures to combat money laundering and terrorist financing. The outcomes of the FATF Plenary will be published on Thursday 21 October, at the close of the meeting.
Pakistan remains under ‘increased monitoring’
On June 25, the FATF had decided to keep Pakistan on its grey list of countries. However, the body had said that it recognises Pakistan’s progress and efforts to address items in its country action plan that pertain to combating the financing of terrorism and has encouraged it to continue progress.
It also handed over the government six new anti-money laundering areas to work on. Addressing a press conference after the June 21-25 plenary meeting concluded in Paris, FATF President Dr Marcus Pleyer had said that Pakistan would remain under “increased monitoring”.
“The Pakistani government has made substantial progress in making its counter-terrorist financing systems stronger and more effective. It has largely addressed 26 out of 27 items on the action plan it first committed to in June 2018,” he had said.
Dr Pleyer had added that the plan focused on terrorist financing issues. He said that the one key action item still needs to be completed “which concerns the investigation and prosecution of senior leaders and commanders of UN-designated terror groups”.
