Pak taken off from global terror financing watchdog FATF’s grey list after 4 years; India reacts

FATF welcomed Pakistan’s significant progress in improving anti-money laundering, combating financial terror.

HIGHLIGHTS
-Pakistan is “no longer subject to FATF’s increased monitoring process
-FATF welcomed Pakistan’s significant progress in improving anti-money laundering
-Pakistan has strengthened the effectiveness of its anti-money laundering, FATF said

Pakistan on Friday was dropped from Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list, the organization said in a statement.

FATF welcomed Pakistan’s significant progress in improving anti-money laundering, and combating financial terror.
Pakistan has strengthened the effectiveness of its anti-money laundering, combating the financing of terrorism regime, and addressed technical deficiencies, the terror watchdog said.

Pakistan is “no longer subject to FATF’s increased monitoring process; to continue to work with APG (Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering) to further improve its AML/CFT (anti-money laundering & counter-terrorist financing) system,” FATF stated.

On being asked about Pakistan’s political commitments to fight terrorism against anti-India terror groups, FATF President T Raja Kumar said, “Pak has been on the grey list since 2018, there was a list of item actions that it had to undertake and Pak demonstrated the same. We’re satisfied.”

“A FATF inspection team went down, spoke to authorities, took a look & verified. There was a high-level political commitment on the part of Pakistani authorities, to not just implement the current set of actions they need to take, but also stay committed to ongoing reform,” he added.

“FATF’s jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring, often referred to as the FATF’s grey list. DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo), Tanzania and Mozambique were added to the list, while Nicaragua and Pakistan were removed,” the terror financing watchdog said.

FATF, following a Plenary meeting in Paris, subjects to a call for action in a high-risk jurisdiction, often referred to as FATF’s black list. Myanmar was added to the list, it said.

FATF repeatedly condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Following plenary discussions this week, FATF decided to impose additional restrictions, including barring Russia from current & future projects & participating in meetings of FATF’s regional partner bodies as FATF member, FATF president T Raja Kumar said.

MEA response to Pak’s exit from FATF grey list
In response to media queries on Pakistan and the FATF “Grey List”, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, “We have seen reports relating to Pakistan in the context of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) plenary in Paris.”

“We understand that Pakistan will continue to work with the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) to further improve its Anti Money Laundering (AML) /Counter Terror Financing (CFT) system,” he said.

Our response to media queries on Pakistan and the FATF "Grey List"https://t.co/JDQQMeCMi2 pic.twitter.com/TxgCAQiRMJ

— Arindam Bagchi (@MEAIndia) October 21, 2022

“As a result of FATF scrutiny, Pakistan has been forced to take some action against well-known terrorists, including those involved in attacks against the entire international community in Mumbai on 26/11,” Bagchi said.

“It is in global interest that the world remains clear that Pakistan must continue to take credible, verifiable, irreversible and sustained action against terrorism and terrorist financing emanating from territories under its control,” he added.

Source- INDIA TV NEWS