Pakistani delegation reaches Paris to attend FATF meeting

PARIS: A Pakistani delegation reached France to attend a session of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) that will begin today till October 18.

Economic Affairs Minister Hammad Azhar is leading a Pakistani delegation that arrived in Paris earlier today.

During the meeting, Pakistan will present a compliance report to the global body on the steps taken until April 2019 against money laundering and terror financing.

A decision would be made on whether to exclude Pakistan from the intergovernmental organisation’s grey list where it has been placed since June 2018

Also read: Malaysia, China & Turkey support Pakistan on FATF

The Pakistani delegation includes officials of the finance ministry, as well as the representatives of the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA), Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), Federal Board of Revenue (FBR), and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP).

Measures taken by Pakistan to prevent terror financing will also be reviewed in the FATF meeting.

As per Prime Minister’s adviser on finance and revenue, Dr. Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, Islamabad had completed 20 of the steps.

According to reports, Pakistan had already achieved most of the FATF measures, such as banning terrorist organisations. In addition, it had also taken steps to seize the properties of proscribed outfits and stopped them from doing business.

The Paris-based FATF is an inter-governmental body that combats money laundering, terrorist financing and threats to the international financial system.

FATF put Pakistan on its grey list in June 2018 because of deficiencies in the country’s anti-money laundering and countering of terror financing regulations.