FATF exposes Pakistan's false claims on action against terror financing

The Asia Pacific Group (APG) on Money Laundering, the regional affiliate of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), has once again exposed Pakistan, saying in its report that Islamabad has failed to take credible action to stop terror financing.

Titled Mutual Evaluation Report of Pakistan, the APG report was adopted by the group during the annual meet in Canberra, Australia in August 2019 and it has exposed Pakistan by saying that the Islamabad "has not taken sufficient" measures to fully implement UNSCR 1267obligations against all listed individuals and entities – especially those associated with Lashkar-e-Taiba(LeT)/Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), and Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) as well as the group's leader Hafiz Saeed.

The observations made by the group is a big blow to Pakistan as it increased chances of Islamabad being put on the FATF “black-list”. It may be recalled that Pakistan was placed by FATF on its “grey list” in June 2018. At that time, the FATF had given Pakistan a 15-month deadline to implement its 27-point action plan and the deadline ended in September. It is expected that FATF will have a final review of Pakistan during its next meeting between 13 and 18 October in Paris.

The group has also rapped Bank of Pakistan, which is the country's central bank, and market regulator Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan for not have a clear understanding of terror financing. It has asked Pakistan to adequately "identify, assess and understand" its money laundering/terror financing risks including risks associated with terrorist groups "operating in Pakistan such as Da’esh,AQ, JuD, FiF, LeT, JeM."

The APG’s report is based on information provided by Pakistan and the field visit undertaken by an assessment team comprising experts from US, UK, China, Indonesia, Maldives and Turkey in October 2018.