*JEDDAH: Saudi Arabia has become the first Arab country to be granted fullmembership of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) following the group’sannual general meeting in the US.*
Saudi Arabia which had received an invitation from the FATF at thebeginning of 2015 to join as an “observer member”, was admitted into theorganization after the group’s meeting in Orlando, Florida, on Friday (June21), the Saudi Press Agency reported.
Saudi Arabia had been a founding member of the MENA arm of the group sinceNovember 2004, and its full membership came after it was reported thekingdom had made “tangible progress” and for its efforts in implementingthe FATF’s guidelines.
The group is responsible for issuing international standards, policies andbest practices to combat money laundering, terrorist financing andproliferation.
With the kingdom becoming a FATF member, the number of permanent members inthe group is now 39.
Earlier on Friday, FATF declared Pakistan’s progress towards implementationof the action plan.
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According to the details, the plenary meeting the FATF took place inOrlando today to review the compliance of a number of countries, includingPakistan with the international standards on Anti-Money Laundering andCounter Financing of Terrorism (AML-CFT).
FATF reviewed progress made by Pakistan towards the implementation of theaction plan. It acknowledged the steps taken by Pakistan to improve itsAML-CFT regime and highlighted the need for further actions forimplementing the Action Plan.
FATF will undertake the next review of Pakistan’s Progress in October 2019.
