FATF team in Pakistan to examine steps taken against terror financing

The 9-member delegation, comprising members of FATF's Asia Pacific Group (APG), arrived are on a 12-day visit to see the implementation of the action plan Pakistan had issued earlier this year

A team of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is set to hold meetings with top Pakistani officials on Monday to discuss the measures taken by Pakistan so far to counter money laundering and terror financing.

The nine-member delegation, comprising members of FATF's Asia Pacific Group (APG), arrived here on Sunday on a 12-day visit to see the implementation of the action plan Pakistan had issued earlier this year, official sources said.

The team includes experts from British Scotland Yard, US Department of Treasury, Financial Intelligence Unit of Maldives, Indonesian Ministry of Finance, Peoples' Bank of China and Justice Department of Turkey.

Pakistan was formally added to the 'grey list' of countries involved in providing monetary assistance to terrorism and related causes after a FATF meeting in Paris in June.

The FATF is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.

Sources in the finance ministry said that "Pakistan has done its homework" and the delegation will be briefed about the measures to curb terror financing through money laundering and illegal remittances.

The team will carry out on-site inspections in order to see the systems and mechanisms put in place while its three members will stay for a longer period to review progress on the 10-point action plan agreed with Pakistan.

Pakistan and FATF negotiated a 10-point action plan to be implemented by September 2019 to get out of the grey list.

Already, a team of FATF visited in August to identify deficiencies in Pakistan's anti-money laundering/counter-terror financing laws and mechanisms.

During the current visit, the experts will meet officials from ministries of Interior, Finance, Foreign affairs and Law.

They are also likely to meet officials of State Bank of Pakistan, Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan, National Counter-Terrorism Authority, Federal Investigation Agency, Federal Board of Revenue, National Accountability Bureau, Anti-Narcotics Force, Financial Monitoring Unit, Central Directorate of National Savings and provincial counter-terrorism departments.