Despite the fact that Pakistan is currently compliant with 38 out of 40 technical recommendations, the Asia-Pacific Group (APG) on Money Laundering has rated Pakistan’s level of effectiveness as “low” on 10 out of 11 international goals on anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT).
According to an update on the ranking of its regional members published by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) regional branch in Sydney as of September 2, Pakistan only had a “moderate level of performance” on one of 11 outcomes.
By facilitating action against criminals and their assets, Pakistan broadens international collaboration on pertinent information, financial intelligence, and evidence.
A 34-point action plan Pakistan agreed to with FATF at the highest level in June 2018 was the subject of an on-site visit by a 15-member joint FATF and APG mission from August 29 to September 2.
In February of this year, the task force determined that Pakistan complied with all 34 items or mainly complied with them, and it was agreed to send an onsite mission to confirm this on the ground before formally declaring Pakistan’s removal from the grey list.
According to the FATF-APG assessment process, a country’s “Immediate Outcomes” effectiveness ratings show how effective its policies are.
The evaluation is based on 11 immediate results, which stand for important objectives that a successful AML/CFT system should accomplish.
This, however, has no direct bearing on Pakistan’s anticipated removal from the FATF’s “grey list” during its plenary meeting in Paris from October 18 to 22.
As of last month, Pakistan was deemed to be “compliant” or “mostly compliant” with 38 of the FATF’s 40 technical recommendations for combatting money laundering and terrorism funding.
However, it continued to monitor Islamabad with “Enhanced Follow-up” until the final two suggestions had been addressed.
This indicates that Pakistan has made significant progress toward meeting the technical requirements of the FATF to be removed from the “grey list,” but it still lags well behind FATF’s immediate results in terms of effectiveness.
To read our blog on “FATF is calling for tighter controls on cryptocurrency transactions,” click here.
