Pakistan ensuring completion of FATF Action Plan: Sheikh tells UN

ISLAMABAD: Adviser to the Prime Minister on Finance and Revenue Dr Abdul Hafeez Shaikh has said Pakistan as a responsible member and was ensuring the earliest completion of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Action Plan.

The adviser was delivering a keynote statement online to a high-level panel on International Financial Accountability, Transparency and Integrity for achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

The panel discussed among others the overall efforts undertaken by member states to implement comprehensive international frameworks related to financial accountability, transparency and integrity critical to financing the Sustainable Development Goals.

President of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Tijjani Muhammad-Bande and President of  Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) Mona Juul were also part of the High-Level Panel.

He said Pakistan had already addressed 14 out of 27 FATF Action Plan items by increasing the effectiveness of its Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Finance of Terrorism Regime, while substantial progress had been made in addressing the remaining thirteen ones.

Hafeez Shaikh told the panel that Pakistan has made considerable progress in addressing the recommended actions of Mutual Evaluation Report, which included fifteen legal amendments to meet technical compliance.

He elaborated on the measures Pakistan has taken to strengthen the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating Finance of Terrorism to bring financial institutions in line with FATF standards.

He said the Government of Pakistan had taken various measures in recent years to contain illicit financial flows through strengthening of the AML/CFT regulations.

He said amendments to Protection of Economic Reforms Act (PERA) 1992 had been incorporated to restrict feeding of foreign currency accounts by non-tax filers. The Pakistan Remittances Initiative (PRI) has been launched to facilitate inflow of home remittance through formal channels.

The adviser also called upon the panel to look into how multinational corporations minimize their tax liabilities to revenue authorities in their country of operations.