By Imran Nasir

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Army has played a key role in the implementation of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) actions plans during last four years.

The documents available with The South Asia Times, show Pakistan Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa had established a special cell headed by DGMO in GHQ in 2019.

The cell had played a very key role in coordination mechanisms between more than 30 departments, ministries and agencies and developed a comprehensive action plan at each point and implemented it by all these departments, ministries and agencies.

The then Prime Minister Imran Khan was aware of the darty role of India in FATF as New Delhi was trying to push Pakistan into the blacklist and create an economic problem for its rival country.

Khan and Bajwa had decided that they will foil the Indian conspiracy and will fulfill all the items demanded by the watchdog.

Under FATF, 27 out of 27 points of terror financing and 7 out of 7 points of money laundering were ensured. The two action plans together contained 34 points in total. Completed after 4 years of continuous efforts and moved Pakistan from the gray list to the white list.

During the recent meeting of FATF, all members appreciated Pakistan as Islamabad completed its 2021 Action Plan before the timelines set by FATF, ie January 2023.

The GHQ-based cell worked day and night to develop an effective strategy for money laundering and terror financing, which led to the success of the FATF.

FATF teams likely to conduct an 'onsite visit' to check the sustainability and non-refundability of Anti Money Laundering (AML) and Counterterrorism Financing (CFT) systems in Pakistan by September 2022, followed by a whitelist by October 22.

More than 800 cases of money laundering have been reported in Pakistan and investigations have been completed by the Pakistani authorities in the last 13 months.

According to the FATF plan, the reporting cycle showed a significant increase in the number and value of assets seized, with 71% of assets being seized and 85% of assets being valued.

The GHQ-based cell formulated a comprehensive plan based on the risks of all its relevant stakeholders and its National Risk Assessment (2019 NRA) process.

Terrorism financing and money laundering have declined in Pakistan over the last 4 years, mainly due to continuous improvement in anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorist financing (CFT) laws to address future threats. Strict measures were taken

The GHQ-based cell has been preparing TF Risk Assessment since the inception of the new action plan, which provided Pakistani authorities with complete information about TF in various sectors, products and communications, as well as high-risk areas.

Overall progress of Pakistan in last 2 years

Pakistan enacted the Standalone Money Laundering Act (2020) with informal / formal legal assistance and handled 26,630 complaints.

The FBR established a Special Directorate for Non-Financial Businesses (DNFBP) directorate to monitor the compliance of AML Anti-Money Laundering and Counter Traffic Financing (CFT) by real estate agents and jewelers.

The FBR imposed fines of 35,351 million on more than 22,000 cases.

The FBR also completed offsite surveillance of more than 1,700 different illegal businesses, as well as bringing the real estate sector under the purview of the law.

The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has also completed enforcement action. The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan reviewed 146,697 cases and imposed fines of Rs 2,388 million.

Money laundering (ML) research has increased by 123% in the last one year.

On Friday evening, FATF President Dr. Marcus Pleyer said Pakistan’s continued political commitment to combating both terrorist financing and money laundering has led to significant progress.
 
He acknowledged that Pakistan also largely addressed its 2021 action plan ahead of the set times.
 
 
“At its June 2022 Plenary, the FATF made the initial determination that Pakistan has substantially completed its two action plans, covering 34 items, and warrants an on-site visit to verify that the implementation of Pakistan’s AML/CFT reforms has begun and is being sustained, and that the necessary political commitment remains in place to sustain implementation and improvement in the future,” he added.
 
After the FATF President's announcement now Pakistan will likely get out of the grey list in October as Islamabad completed actions on all items