Pakistan retained in FATF grey list, next meet in October
Premium- The FATF also said that Pakistan which remains on the 'increased monitoring list' should continue to work to address its strategically-important deficiencies
NEW DELHI: Pakistan has been retained on the Paris based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) “Grey List" of countries under watch with the global anti money laundering body saying that Islamabad has failed to take action against UN-designated terrorists like Hafiz Saeed and Masood Azhar.
The FATF also said that Pakistan which remains on the “increased monitoring list" should continue to work to address its strategically-important deficiencies.
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According to a statement from the FATF on Friday at the end of a week long plenary session, Pakistan has now met the demands of the global body on 26 of the 27 action items given to it 2018. “Pakistan’s continued political commitment has led to significant progress across a comprehensive CFT (combating financing of terrorism) action plan. The FATF recognizes Pakistan’s progress and efforts to address these CFT action plan items and notes that since February 2021, Pakistan has made progress to complete two of the three remaining action items on demonstrating that effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions are imposed for TF ( terrorist financing) convictions and that Pakistan’s targeted financial sanctions regime was being used effectively to targeted terrorist assets," the statement said.
“The FATF encourages Pakistan to continue to make progress to address as soon as possible the one remaining CFT-related item by demonstrating that TF investigations and prosecutions target senior leaders and commanders of UN designated terrorist groups," it said. These include Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e Mohammed (JeM), both based in Pakistan. The Lashkar e Toiba (LeT0 is the group that carried out the Mumbai terrorist attack in 2008 while the JeM carried out the 2019 Pulwama attack in which 40 Indian paramilitary personnel were killed. Tensions between India and Pakistan spiked after the Pulwama attack bringing the two countries to the brink of war. The LeT is headed by Hafiz Saeed and the JeM by Maulana Masood Azhar.
According to the FATF statement, “Pakistan should continue to work to address its strategically important AML/CFT (anti-money laundering/ combating financing of terrorism) deficiencies" by actions such as strengthening its laws, demonstrating that it is seeking assistance from foreign countries to implement UN Security Council requirements on freezing financial assets of designated terrorists and cutting off their access to funds, by demonstrating that appropriate sanctions were applied on people and organizations not adhering to these rules and also showing “an increase in ML (money laundering) investigations and prosecutions and that proceeds of crime continue to be restrained and confiscated in line with Pakistan’s risk profile.
According to analysts, action against people like Saeed and Azhar could be a tall order for Pakistan given that Islamabad has routinely detained them only to set them free later, often for lack of evidence.
“The FATF works on the goals set by the UN so action against groups and people like Saeed and Azhar would be front and centre in any debate," said Harsh V Pant, a professor of international relations at the London based King’s College. “Pakistan will have to offer credible evidence of action which will be difficult because of their internal contradictions -- ties with such groups," he said.
The next meeting of the FATF is expected in October this year.
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