ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has received 150 questions from the joint group of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in response to the report it had submitted earlier.
According to the top officials, the PTI government had received a response from FATF. The body raised a set of 150 questions in the email, some of them seeking more data, some clarifications, and most important questions related to madrassas and actions taken against them having affiliation with proscribed outfits.
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Pakistan has been given until January 8, 2020 deadline to respond to the 150 questions. The next meeting of the FATF meeting is scheduled to be held from January 21 to 24 in Beijing where Pakistan will be given an opportunity to defend the points in the compliance report.
Pakistan is expecting that FATF may grant it another relaxation probably up to June 2020 in its upcoming plenary review meeting.
As the February deadline is too short a period for Pakistan to comply with the remaining 22 action plans. The FATF had already granted Pakistan extension till February 2020 in a meeting in October this year.
The joint working group of the FATF declared Pakistan as largely compliant on 10 points, however, the FATF plenary meeting accepted Islamabad’s compliance only on five points out of 27 action plans. The financial watchdog said all deadlines in the action plan had now expired. Noting recent improvements.
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Including remaining deficiencies in demonstrating a sufficient understanding of its transnational TF risks, and more broadly, the country’s failure to complete its action plan in line with the agreed timelines.
The anti-money laundering watchdog has strongly urged the country to swiftly complete its full action plan by February 2020.
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