Why in news?
Pakistan has been retained on the “grey list” of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) for another four months, with a stern warning from the global watchdog that met in Paris (February 19-21) to complete the 27-point action plan it has been given by June 2020 or face being put on the “black list”
What did the FATF tell?
According to the FATF summary report released on Friday evening, Pakistan needs to continue to work on eight specific areas, including demonstrating it is “identifying and investigating” all terror financing activity in the country, freezing the funds of all designated terrorists and that its prosecutions result in “effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions” against all terror entities in Pakistan
What is FATF?
- Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering
- Is an intergovernmental organization founded in 1989 on the initiative of the G7 to develop policies to combat money laundering
- In 2001 its mandate expanded to include terrorism financing.
- It monitors progress in implementing the FATF Recommendations through “peer reviews” (“mutual evaluations”) of member countries
- The FATF Secretariat is housed at the OECD headquarters in Paris.
- The objectives of the FATF are to set standards and promote effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.
- The FATF is, therefore, a “policy-making body” which works to generate the necessary political will to bring about national legislative and regulatory reforms in these areas
