 "FATF")
Pakistan Parliament's lower house on Wednesday passed four bills related to the tough conditions set by the global money laundering and terrorist financing watchdog FATF after the government and the Opposition reached a consensus.
The legislation is part of the efforts by Pakistan to move from the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list to the white list.
The FATF put Pakistan on the grey list in June 2018 and asked Islamabad to implement a plan of action by the end of 2019 but the deadline was extended later due to COVID-19 pandemic.
Law Minister Farogh Naseem termed it a historic day that the FATF-related legislation was passed with consensus in the larger interest of the country.
The Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Bill 2020, the Companies (Amendment) Bill 2020, the Limited Liability Partnership (Amendment) Bill 2020 and the Control of Narcotic Substances (Amendment) Bill 2020 were moved by him in the National Assembly.
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He said that whitening the economy and checking terror financing are key to take the country forward on the path of development.
It is also our aim to simplify the legislation and ensure protection of fundamental rights of the people, he said.
Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi told the house that the terror financing and money laundering posed a threat to Pakistan and should be confronted and eradicated.
Long deliberations were held with the Opposition parties to reach a consensus on the legislation, he said.
Last month, two FATF-related bills -- the Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Bill 2020 and the United Nations (Security Council) (Amendment) Bill 2020 -- were passed with the support of the two Opposition parties.
The Anti-Terrorism Act (ATC) 2020, seeking amendments to the ATC Act 1997, suggested an increase in the punishment, including the fine amount from existing Rs 10 million to Rs 25 million, besides introduction of a 10-year jail sentence for those found involved in terror financing through illegal money transfers.
It passed another resolution recommending that the historic speech of the country's founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah to the Constituent Assembly on August 11, 1947 on minorities should be made a part of the syllabus.
The UN Security Council Resolution 1373 has made it incumbent upon the member states to implement counter-terrorism measures, especially countering the financing of terrorism through their domestic laws.
In its third and final plenary held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic in June, the FATF decided to keep Pakistan in the "grey list" as Islamabad failed to check the flow of money to terror groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).
The plenary was held under the Chinese Presidency of Xiangmin Liu.
With Pakistan''s continuation in the ''grey list'', it will be difficult for the country to get financial aid from the IMF, World Bank, ADB, and the European Union, thus further enhancing problems for the nation which is in a precarious financial situation.
If Pakistan fails to comply with the FATF directive by October, there is every possibility that the global body may put the country in the ''Black List'' along with North Korea and Iran.
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.
It currently has 39 members including two regional organisations - the European Commission and Gulf Cooperation Council.
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