FATF team concludes on-site visit to Pakistan

As reported, a 15-member team of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has concluded a five-day visit to Pakistan this week.

The move may pave the way for Pakistan to finally exit the Grey List – in its next meeting, scheduled in Paris in October.

According to the news source, the FATA team, which was given a state guest-level protocol, stayed in the country from August 29 to September 2.

On June 17, FATF said Pakistan will continue to stay on its ‘grey list’ and a final decision to remove it from the list will be taken after an “on-site” verification visit by the Paris-based body.

This decision was announced after the conclusion of the FATF plenary in Berlin, where delegates from governments around the world and partner organizations, including the UN and IMF discussed key money laundering and terrorist financing issues.

“At its June 2022 Plenary, the FATF made the initial determination that Pakistan has substantially completed its two action plans, covering 34 items, and warrants an on-site visit to verify that the implementation of Pakistan’s AML/CFT reforms has begun and is being sustained and that the necessary political commitment remains in place to sustain implementation and improvement in the future,” the FATF said in a statement.

“The FATF will continue to monitor the Covid-19 situation and conduct an on-site visit at the earliest possible date,” it added.