Pakistan to be in the grey list till February 2020: FATF Reports

In a major development, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on Friday, October 18, will officially announce their decision to keep Pakistan in the grey list till February 2020.  Earlier on Tuesday, the Paris-based terror financing watchdog decided "in principle" that Pakistan will remain on its grey list till February 2020 and directed the country to take "extra measures" for the "complete elimination" of terror financing and money laundering. 

According to reports, the meeting of the international watchdog reviewed the measures taken by Pakistan to control money laundering and terror financing and observed that Islamabad will have to take further steps on the two parameters in these four months. The FATF has linked the blacklisting of the country with "unsatisfactory steps to curb money laundering and terror financing", as per reports.

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Representatives from 206 countries and jurisdictions around the world began a meeting for the FATF Week in the French capital earlier this week. Six days of the meeting were focused on disrupting financial flows linked to crime and terrorism and discuss ways to contribute to global security. 

China currently holds the current FATF presidency and all eyes will be on Beijing that is an all-weather ally of Pakistan. Meanwhile, China, Turkey, and Malaysia have appreciated the steps undertaken by Pakistan to curb terror financing on its soil and noted that further time should be given to the country to implement the other measures. 

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Pakistan on FATF list

The FATF placed Pakistan on Grey List in June 2018. Pakistan was given 15 months to complete the implementation of an action plan. In August 2019, the Asia Pacific Joint Group (APJG) placed Pakistan in the enhanced follow up list for failure to meet the standards. The list was based on technical compliance and rated 'satisfactory' on meeting 10 points out of the 40. Depending on FATF's decision, Pakistan may or may not join the blacklist with Iran and North Korea. Meanwhile, the US has urged Pakistan to prevent militant groups from operating on its soil and prosecute top Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) operatives along with its leader Hafiz Saeed.

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(with ANI inputs)