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BERLIN: The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) announced on Friday that Pakistan has “substantially completed its two action plans” but on-site visits are required to verify Islamabad’s implementation, a statement issued by the watchdog said.
However, Pakistan has not been officially removed from the FATF’s grey list.
The watchdog said that FATF will “monitor the COVID-19 situation and conduct an on-site visit at the earliest possible date”.
FATF’s President Marcus Pleyerthe said final decision in this regard will be announced in October this year after an on-site visit.
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar said that Pakistan’s process of exiting the Financial Action Task Force’s grey list would come to an end in October.
“Now our process of exiting the grey list as per the FATF procedure starts, according to which a technical evaluation team will be sent to Pakistan,” she said in a video message after the task force said the country had met all 34 items on two separate action plans.
“It is our full effort that this team completes its work before October’s plenary cycle and we have told them that we will ensure their comfort and ease,” Khar said.
According to Foreign Office, the FATF members while participating in the discussion on Pakistan’s progress congratulated Pakistan for completing both Action Plans covering 34 items, and especially on the early completion of the 2021 Action Plan in a record timeframe.
Pakistan continued its relentless efforts towards successful completion of these Action Plans despite many challenges including the COVID 19 pandemic.
Pakistan has covered a lot of ground in the Anti- Money Laundering/Combating the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) domain during implementation of FATF Action Plans.
The engagement with FATF has led to the development of a strong AML/CFT framework in Pakistan and resulted in improving the country’s systems to cope with future challenges.
The Pakistan delegation, which attended FATF Plenary meetings in Berlin, was led by Ms. Hina Rabbani Khar, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs / Chairperson National FATF Coordination Committee.
Meanwhile, Hina Rabbani Khar in a twitter post congratulated Pakistan by saying that FATF has declared both Action Plans complete.
She said the international community has unanimously acknowledged the country’s efforts.
“Our success is the result of 4 year of challenging journey. Pakistan reaffirms resolve to continue the momentum and give our economy a boost,” Ms. Khar added.
