On Thursday, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) said that Pakistan remains under “enhanced surveillance” in the field of terrorist funding, so it will remain on the grey list until June 2021.
FATF President Dr Marcus Pleyer, speaking through a live video link, said that while the FATF recognizes Pakistan’s counterterrorism efforts, there are still some significant shortcomings that the country needs to resolve.
“Out of the 27 conditions, three have yet to be dealt with,” he said. “I acknowledge Pakistan’s efforts, and out of the six tasks it had to complete, three were [done] in an outstanding manner, but there is a significant need to work on the other three, especially in terms of financing terror.”
Pleyer stressed that Pakistan must continue working on the things it has committed to and ensure that all the criteria are fulfilled, adding that in June 2021, the FATF would review Pakistan’s efforts again.
“In response to a query relating to the prosecution of terrorists in Pakistan, he said that the entity is “not an investigative organisation,” and that it “does not look at single cases.
“The deadline for Pakistan [to meet the 27 conditions to get off the grey list] had expired, that is why the body had urged Pakistani authorities to ramp up their efforts in dealing with the items.”
Regarding India, he said that the country has been subjected to the “same rules as others,” adding that the watchdog would take a look at India when the time comes.
Pleyer added that FATF continues to monitoring financial crimes and terror financing which have become more complicated due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The decision comes after a three-day virtual meeting of the FATF that began on February 22, during which steps taken by Pakistan against terror financing were reviewed.
In this context, Pakistani officials had said that if decisions are to be based on merit, then the country’s name will be likely removed from the FATF’s grey list.
According to sources, Pakistan submitted a detailed report on the implementation of the remaining six points that the FATF tasked the country with.
Back in October 2020, FATF had acknowledged that of the 27 conditions that were put forth to Pakistan, 21 had been fulfilled while six were left.
At that time, FATF President Dr. Marcus Pleyer had said that once the remaining six conditions are fulfilled, an “on-site visit” will be approved under which a team from the FATF will visit the country for the next review.
