ISLAMABAD – The Ministry of Finance on Monday clarified the news report onFinancial Action Task Force (FATF) and Asia/Pacific Group on MoneyLaundering (APG) issues.
Referring to a news report on Pakistan’s FATF and APG issues, in astatement, the ministry said that Pakistan is passing through two separateprocesses, one is FATF Action Plan and another is regular assessment ofAML/CFT regime.It said that the FATF Action Plan has been agreed with FATF and is beingimplemented with timelines from Jan-2019 till September 2019.Its progress is being monitored by FATF on quarterly basis. The focus ofthis action plan is on the implementation of TF regime in Pakistan, itadded.
The regular APG assessment is part of Pakistan’s APG membershiprequirements and every country in the globe is required to undergoassessment of anti-money laundering and combating the financing ofterrorism (AML/CFT) framework.
It said that Pakistan’s assessment is being conducted by APG and assessmentteam from China, Turkey, UK, USA, Indonesia and Maldives. The purpose ofthe assessment is to gauge the level of compliance on key AML/CFT areasincluding adequacy and effectiveness of laws, policies and coordination,implementation of preventive measures, powers and capacity of FMU,supervisory and law enforcement agencies, use of financial intelligence andinternational cooperation.
It said that during the onsite visit (October 8-19, 2018) to Pakistan, theAPG assessment team held meetings with all Pakistan’s AML/CFT stakeholders.
This process will culminate in July 2019 in APG’s annual meeting and inbetween draft reports would be exchanged with APG including one face toface meeting in April 2019. Both processes like FATF Action Plan and APG’smutual evaluation are distinct and may not be mixed while reporting inpress.
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It is pertinent to mention that all countries undergo regular mutualevaluation process using a global assessment methodology and procedures. Asof date the AML/CFT assessments of 60 countries have been completed acrossthe globe out of which 16 countries are the members of APG.It is the third mutual evaluation of Pakistan the first two were held in2004 and 2009 respectively.
The ministry also clarified that APG assessment team headed by APG’sExecutive Secretary Gordon Hook held a courtesy meeting with FinanceMinister and discussed Pakistan’s overall AML/CFT regime.
The Finance Minister during the meeting with APG team assured Pakistan’sstrong commitment for a robust AML/CFT regime as per internationalstandards and highlighted Pakistan’s measures on this front.The APG team also did not share any assessment in written or verbal formswhether Pakistan will continue to remain on FATF Gray list or not.
No other issues were discussed with the Finance Minister by APGdelegation except this matter for which a press release was also issued bythe Ministry of Finance on October 17, 2018. – APP
