After the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) urged Pakistan to comply with the FATF warning to curb terror funding, Pakistan accused India of using the warning for its own “narrow, partisan objectives” against Pakistan, The Hindu reported.
India later rejected the neighbouring country's allegations of politicising the deliberations at the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), as per the report.
The MEA had on Saturday, 22 June, responded to FATF’s warning to Pakistan to curb terror funding till October, saying that it expects Pakistan to take all necessary steps to implement the FATF’s Action Plan within the remaining time frame.
It added that it expects Pakistan to take credible, verifiable, irreversible and sustainable measures to address global concerns related to terrorism and terrorist financing emanating from any territory under its control.
The FATF, on Friday 21 June, had warned Pakistan that if it fails to complete its action plan on terror financing, the country will face action, which could possibly lead to the country’s blacklisting.
The Paris-based global body is working to curb terrorism financing and money laundering and has asked Pakistan to reassess the operation of banned terrorist outfits in the country.
In June last year, the FATF placed Pakistan on the grey list of countries whose domestic laws are considered weak to tackle the challenges of money laundering and terrorism financing.
In a statement issued at the conclusion of its Plenary meeting in Orlando, Florida, the FATF expressed concern "that not only did Pakistan fail to complete its action plan items with January deadlines, it also failed to complete its action plan items due May 2019".
‘Complete Action Or Face Consequences’
The FATF "strongly" urges Pakistan to swiftly complete its action plan by October 2019 when the last set of action plan items are set to expire.
"Otherwise, the FATF will decide the next step at that time for insufficient progress," the international financial body said leaving a strong warning to Pakistan.
The FATF said Pakistan had taken steps towards improving its AML/CFT (anti-money laundering/combating the financial terrorism) regime, including the recent development of its terror funding risk assessment addendum.
However, it does not demonstrate a proper understanding of Pakistan’s transnational terror funding risk.
Pakistan should continue to work on implementing its action plan to address its strategic deficiencies, including by adequately demonstrating its proper understanding of the terror funding risks posed by the terrorist groups and conducting supervision on a risk-sensitive basis.
“It should demonstrate that remedial actions and sanctions are applied in cases of AML/CFT violations, and that these actions have an effect on AML/CFT compliance by financial institution.”Financial Action Task Force (FATF) statement
It asked Pakistan to demonstrate that competent authorities are cooperating and taking action to identify and take enforcement action against illegal money or value transfer services (MVTS).
It also asked Pakistan to show that authorities are identifying cash couriers and enforcing controls on illicit movement of currency and understanding the risk of cash couriers being used for terror funding.
(With inputs from PTI and The Hindu)
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