THE FINANCIAL Action Task Force (FATF) has refused to take Pakistan out of the ‘Grey List’ yet again. On Friday, it said Pakistan had failed to take appropriate action against UN-designated terrorists such as 26/11 accused Hafiz Saeed and JeM chief Masood Azhar. Although the global anti-money laundering and terror financing body has acknowledged some progress made by Pakistan, it said the country should continue to work to address its strategically-important deficiencies.
The decision was taken at the ongoing FATF meeting (between June 21 and 25) called to discuss the situation in Pakistan. FATF President Marcus Pleyer said, “In order to get off the grey list, Pakistan will not only have to comply with the one deficient item on FATF action plan but also the additional six from the Asia-Pacific subgroup.” (The six items have been listed at the end of this report). Pakistan continues to remain on “increased monitoring list”, Pleyer said at a virtual press conference. “Increased monitoring list” is the another name for the Grey List. Pleyer said Pakistan has now completed 26 of the 27 action items given to it in 2018. The FATF has asked Pakistan to take action against UN designated terrorists, he said. For long, FATF has been asking Pakistan to comply with international standards and rules on money-laundering, terror financing and other such illegal activities. However, despite several rounds of scrutiny, its performance has not been found satisfactory.
