NA passes four bills relating to fulfilling FATF’s obligations

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly today (Monday) has passed four bills related to fulfilling the obligations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to bring the country out of FATF’s grey list.

Adviser to Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs Dr. Babar Awan tabled the bills and was opposed by Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F), Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N).

The bills include ‘The Limited Liability Partnership (Amendment) Bill 2020’, ‘The Companies (Amendment) Bill 2020’, ‘The Anti-Money Laundering (Second Amendment) Bill, 2020’, and ‘The Islamabad Capital Territory Waqf Properties Bill, 2020’.

Giving details of the bills, Babar Awan informed that ‘The Limited Liability Partnership (Amendment) Bill, 2020’ and ‘The Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2020’ will ensure compliance with FATF’s recommendations on anti-money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism by strengthening existing laws.

“The Islamabad Capital Territory Waqf Properties Bill, 2020, is aimed at proper management, supervision and administration of waqf properties in the capital territory,” he added.

The PM’s adviser further said that the PTI-led federal government would not tolerate any hindrance over legislation on matters pertaining to the national interest.

On the occasion, PM’s Special Assistant on Accountability Shahzad Akbar said that they have made an amendment in the anti-money laundering bill, passed in 2007, in order to get Pakistan out from the grey list of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

“We took opposition parties into confidence over every amendment and accepted their proposals for bringing improvement in the bill,” he said.

Former Prime Minister and PPP lawmaker Raja Pervaiz Ashraf said that they had proposed certain amendments in the bill especially regarding its section 10.

He said, “We are against the power of arrest in the bill,” adding that such powers could give anyone the authority to make arrests without prior approval of arrest warrants. The House was prorogued later in honour of Muharram-Harram.