A 15-member team of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) concluded a five-day visit to Pakistan this week. The findings of the FATF team would be discussed and reviewed in the next meeting of FATF, scheduled in Paris in October. The positive outcome of the onsite team’s findings would allow Pakistan to finally come clean over deficiencies in the system to curb money laundering and terror financing.
According to sources, the FATF team stayed in the country from August 29 to September 2.
The Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) approved a special grant of Rs7 million for the FATF Secretariat to provide the 15-member FATF team accommodation, food and travel. Though the visit was kept under wraps, sources said the FATF delegation held meetings with the relevant authorities and verified the steps Pakistan had taken to fulfil the condition of the international financial watchdog on terror financing and money laundering. In June, the FATF hinted at Pakistan’s removal from the grey list after it concluded that Pakistan complied with the 34-point plan of action and agreed to send its team for the verification of those steps.
Pakistan was placed on the grey list by FATF in June 2018 for deficiencies in its system to curb money laundering and terror financing.
