Govt, FATF to sit for final negotiations on Monday

ISLAMABAD: Final negotiations between the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and the government are scheduled to begin on Monday in the federal capital.

During its visit from October 7-9, the FATF delegation will meet officials of the ministries of finance and interior, the financial monitoring unit, and the state bank .

The administrative and legal measures taken by Pakistan to stop the monetary assistance of terrorists will also be reviewed by the foreign team, sources said.

In this regard, a working paper has also been drafted by the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) pertaining to money laundering and terror financing which incorporates recommendations for measures in identifying domestic and foreign transactions.

As Pakistan is currently under the grey-list, the FATF delegation will also put forward  recommendations whether to take Pakistan off the grey-list or to add it to the black list.

In June, Pakistan vowed to implement the action plan negotiated with the Financial Action Task Force to address concerns of the international community.

On June 28,  Pakistan’s name was placed on the ‘grey list’ during FATF Plenary session in Paris.

The FATF is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.

Last month, Finance Minister Asad Umar informed the Senate that the Financial Action Task Force had given Pakistan 15 months to comply with its requirements within its set deadline expiring in September 2019.