The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), the global terror funding watchdog, has warned Pakistan that its removal from the ‘greylist’ in October 2022 doesn’t make it immune to money laundering and terrorist financing.
FATF President Elisa de Anda Madrazo emphasised that countries, including Pakistan, must continue implementing measures to prevent and deter crimes.
“Any country that is on the grey list but also exists on the grey list is not bulletproof for actions of criminals, either money launderers or terrorists. So we do invite all jurisdictions, including those who have been delisted, to continue their good work to prevent and deter crimes,” said FATF president Elisa de Anda Madrazo during a press conference in France.
Pakistan was removed from the FATF ‘greylist’ in October 2022 and has been under follow-up to ensure it is implementing anti-terror financing measures. However, Pakistan is not a member of the FATF, so the Asia Pacific Group (APG) has been conducting the follow-up.
The list contains various countries and jurisdictions that have been placed under increased monitoring due to significant strategic deficiencies in countering terror financing and money laundering, the FATF president said.
The comments by the FATF president come amid reports of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) using digital wallets to fund terror camps, masking financial flows.
Notably, India’s National Risk Assessment 2022 identifies Pakistan as a high-risk terror financing source.
Earlier, a report titled ‘Comprehensive Update on Terrorist Financing Risks’ provided in-depth insights into terrorist financing methods and emerging risks, including the increasing involvement of state-sponsored terrorism.
A study in which India contributed highlighted the concerns for the South Asian region arising from the state-owned National Development Complex in Pakistan. The report said that Pakistan remains a high-risk jurisdiction in the region for proliferation financing.
Calling for various countries, including Pakistan, to continue implementing measures against terror financing, Madrazo underlined FATF’s commitment to stop such actions across the globe.
“Now, as it relates to terrorist attacks, in any place or jurisdiction, the FATF remains committed to continuing to strengthen our standards and the implementation through our assessment and our process to make sure we can benefit the people by having less terrorist financing,” she said.
Pakistan is under APG (Asia Pacific Group) monitoring, ensuring implementation of anti-terror financing measures.
FATF concluded its fourth plenary meeting in Paris, France, under the Mexican presidency of Elisa de Anda Madrazo, highlighting a strong commitment to focus efforts on depriving criminals around the world of their ill-gotten gains.
According to an official statement from the FATF, delegates from the Task Force’s Global Network of more than 200 jurisdictions and observers participated in three days of discussions to address key issues in the fight against illicit finance.
The Plenary adopted reports of the first two FATF assessments under the new round of mutual evaluations. Belgium and Malaysia are the first FATF members to be assessed under the new, more time-bound and risk-based assessments, which place greater emphasis on countries’ results in tackling money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing.
The Plenary has also removed Burkina Faso, Mozambique, Nigeria, and South Africa from the list of jurisdictions under increased monitoring, following the completion of their Action Plans.
