The working group and plenary meetings of the Financial Action Task Force began in Paris on February 21 and are likely to continue until March 4. According to several media outlets, Pakistan will continue to remain the FATF’s ‘grey list’ for another four months for failing to effectively implement the conditions laid down for its removal from the list. Reacting to this news, Islamabad is adamant that the FATF has been ‘politicized’ and the decision to keep Pakistan on the grey list is politically motivated.
The Financial Action Task Force is a Paris-based intergovernmental organization founded in 1989 to develop policies to combat money laundering throughout the world. Countries that are rife with money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing but are willing to combat these deficiencies are placed in the “Jurisdictions under increased monitoring” list, commonly known as the “grey list.” Being on the grey list means that a country has limited access to international loans and aid which can significantly hamper its economic progress.
Pakistan has been on the FATF’s grey list since June 2018 for money laundering and terrorist financing deficiencies. Initially, the FATF outlined 27 areas for Pakistan to work on in order to be removed from the grey list. However, there are 34 items in the action plan assigned to Pakistan today. It has been in the grey since then for failing to effectively implement the measures.
The FATF has now announced that it plans to put Pakistan on the grey list for another four months. The financial watchdog will review Pakistan’s progress in June and decided whether Pakistan will be removed from the list or not.
Reacting to the FATF’s decision, Pakistan’s Foreign Office said that Pakistan has met all the conditions to be removed from the grey list and only political considerations from the members of the FATF could have motivated this decision.
“In the context of FATF, we have faithfully complied with and completed all technical requirements and hope that the outcome would be in the positive direction,” FO spokesman Asim Iftikhar said at the weekly media briefing on Saturday.
Pakistan has repeatedly accused India, a member of the FATF, of hijacking the financial watchdog for personal gains. Pakistan’s Foreign Office has repeatedly claimed that India is twisting FATF’s arms to keep Pakistan in the grey list. Islamabad claims that FATF has been “politicized” and that the organization is biased against Pakistan.