*Islamabad*: Pakistan has urged the US to support its bid to exit from thegrey list of the FATF ahead of a key meeting of the international terrorfinancing watchdog in Beijing in which it will scrutinise Islamabad’sefforts to adopt stricter laws against terror financing and moneylaundering.
A Pakistani delegation arrived in Beijing on Sunday for the three-dayface-to-face talks with the Financial Action Task Force Working Group thatwould start on January 21.
The briefing will go over whether Pakistan has complied with an earlieragenda presented to it by the Paris-based financial task force, The Newsreported.
The Pakistani delegation is being led by Minister for Economic AffairsDivision Hammad Azhar and comprises representatives of National CounterTerrorism Authority (Nacta), the foreign ministry, the State Bank ofPakistan (SBP), among others.
The FATF in October decided to keep Pakistan on its ‘Grey’ list for failureto curb funnelling of funds to terror groups LeT, JeM and others.
If not removed off the list by April, Pakistan may move to a blacklist ofcountries that face severe economic sanctions, such as Iran.
Pakistan has submitted a 650-page review report to the FATF on January 8.The report was submitted in response to 150 questions raised by the FATFregarding new Pakistani policies on money laundering. The report outlinedthe steps taken by Pakistan between October 2019 to January 2020 toimplement the group’s recommendations.
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Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi at a media briefing in Washington onFriday said that Pakistan hoped the US would back its efforts to get it offthe list at the FATF’s Beijing meeting, the Dawn newspaper reported.
This meeting is very important for us as it leads to a plenary meeting inParis in April where the world body will decide whether Pakistan remains onthe list or is taken off, he said.
Qureshi concluded his three-day visit to the US on Friday after a series ofmeetings with key US lawmakers and officials, including Secretary of StateMike Pompeo and National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien.
The foreign minister spent the week touring Iran, Saudi Arabia and the USon a diplomatic mission meant to defuse tensions between Washington andTehran.
