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Pakistan will likely be removed from the shameful “grey list” by the international agency that monitors money laundering and the financing of terrorism on Friday, enabling it to attempt to raise foreign funding to stabilize its poor financial condition. The action might be taken more than four years after Pakistan was placed on the “grey list” by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for failing to control the risk of money laundering that could fuel corruption and fund terrorism.
The FATF discovered Pakistan’s shortcomings in its legal, financial, regulatory, investigative, prosecution, judicial, and non-governmental sectors to combat money laundering and combat funding of terrorism, which are seen as severe dangers to the world financial system.
Only a few of the action items given to Pakistan by the FATF in 2018 had not been completed by the end of June, including its failure to take action against terrorists who have been designated by the UN, such as Lashker-e-Taiba (LeT) founder Hafiz Saeed, Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) chief Masood Azhar, and Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, Saeed’s close friend and the group’s “operational commander.”
Due to their participation in multiple terrorist operations, including as the 26/11 Mumbai terror strikes and the 2019 bombing of a Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) bus in Pulwama, Jammu and Kashmir, Azhar, Saeed, and Lakhvi are among India’s most wanted terrorists.
The first FATF Plenary under the two-year Singapore president of T Raja Kumar will take place on October 20–21 in Paris, according to a recent statement from the Paris-based international agency that monitors money laundering and the funding of terrorism.
Under a 27-point action plan, Pakistan had made high-level political pledges to resolve these shortcomings. The number of action points was increased to 34 as a result.
Islamabad was having more trouble receiving financial assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the European Union (EU) as a result of Pakistan’s continued inclusion on the “grey list.” This was complicating matters for the cash-strapped nation.
To go from the “grey list” to the “white list,” Pakistan needs 12 votes out of the required 39. It need the backing of three nations in order to stay off the “black list.”
Malaysia, China, and Turkey have consistently backed it.
The FATF put Pakistan on the “grey list” in June 2018 and provided it with a plan of action to remove it by October 2019. The nation has been on the list ever since because it didn’t follow the FATF regulations.
The FATF is an intergovernmental organisation that was created in 1989 to address risks to the integrity of the global financial system, including money laundering, funding of terrorism, and other related issues.
It now has 39 members, including the European Commission and the Gulf Cooperation Council, two regional organisations.
India participates in the Asia Pacific Group and FATF discussions.
