‘Naya Pakistan’ big downfall; Failing to take action against terror funding, FATF puts Pakistan on ‘enhanced blacklist’

News Bharati    23-Aug-2019
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New Delhi, August 23: Pakistan’s rare dream of ‘Naya Pakistan’ has taken a leap of faith as it failed to comply to meet its standard entailed by the Asia-Pacific Group of FATF on terror funding. While Pakistan was trying to bring India into bad picture, little did it know that it is indirectly backfiring itself. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) the global watchdog for terror financing and money laundering, has put Pakistan in the Enhanced Expedited Follow Up List (Blacklist) for its failure to take action against terror funding.

 

In an earlier plenary meeting in June, FATF had warned Pakistan that it would be put in blacklist if the country that Pakistan had failed to meet targets for controlling terror financing. Holding a meeting in Canberra, Australia, the Asia Pacific Group (APG) of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has also found that Pakistan was non-compliant on 32 of the 40 compliance parameters of terror financing and money laundering.

 

Four countries participating in the discussion said the focus should be on Islamabad taking “credible, verifiable, irreversible and sustainable” steps to end terror funding and terrorism emanating from territory under its control. This meeting was preceded by reports in Pakistani media that the country’s leadership had approached the political leadership of FATF member states to seek their support to avoid being put on FATF’s black list. Such steps were tantamount to Pakistan politicising the technical processes of the FATF.

However, after the big downfall coming its way, Pakistan has to focus on avoiding the blacklist in October, when the 15-month timeline ends on the FATF’s 27-point action plan, another official said.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), also known by its French name, Groupe d’action financière, is an intergovernmental organization founded in 1989 on the initiative of the G7 to develop policies to combat money laundering. In 2001 its mandate was expanded to include terrorism financing.