In First Tweet After Pakistan Exits Grey List, PM Shehbaz Sharif Thanks Bhutto, Gen Bajwa
Global money laundering watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on Friday removed Pakistan from terror financing grey list as it welcomed the country’s “significant progress in improving its AML/CFT regime”.
“Pakistan has strengthened the effectiveness of its AML/CFT (anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing) regime and addressed technical deficiencies to meet the commitments of its action plans regarding strategic deficiencies that the FATF identified in June 2018 and June 2021, the latter of which was completed in advance of the deadlines, encompassing 34 action items in total.”
“Pakistan is therefore no longer subject to the FATF’s increased monitoring process. Pakistan will continue to work with APG to further improve its AML/CFT system,” the watchdog said in a statement.
Soon after, Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif thanked his foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto and army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa for their efforts to get the country out of FATF’s list. He said the development is a vindication of the determined and sustained efforts over the years.
“I would particularly commend the role & efforts of Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto, Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa and their teams & all political parties for putting up a united front to get Pakistan out of the grey list. Alhumdulillah!”
“Pakistan exiting the FATF grey list is a vindication of our determined and sustained efforts over the years. I would like to congratulate our civil & military leadership as well as all institutions whose hard work led to today’s success. Aap sab ko bohat bohat Mubarak,” he further wrote.
Pakistan was included in the grey list in June 2018 for failing to do enough to counter terror financing and money laundering. It had been widely expected in Pakistan to exit the list as the FATF’s last plenary meeting in June had concluded that the country “largely addressed” all 34 action items in two action plans given by the multilateral watchdog.
The two-day plenary meeting being held in Paris is the first under the presidency of Singapore’s T Raja Kumar, who succeeded Germany’s Marcus Pleyer in June.
The meeting reviewed cases of countries under increased monitoring or the grey list, including Pakistan.
Delegates representing 206 members of the FATF’s global network and observer organisations, including the International Monetary Fund, United Nations, World Bank, Interpol and the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units, participated at the working group and plenary meetings in Paris.
Pakistan was initially given a 27-point action plan by FATF in 2018 to curb terror financing, and another seven-point action plan last year to tackle money laundering.
A 15-member delegation from FATF and its regional affiliate, the Asia Pacific Group (APG), visited Pakistan from August 29 to September 2 to make an on-the-ground assessment of its efforts to stop terror financing and to prosecute those involved in such activities, including members of UN-designated terror groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).
The report prepared by this delegation was presented at the plenary meeting.