ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Ministry of Finance claimed on Monday that it is well-prepared to brief the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) team about measures taken to curb terror financing through money laundering and illegal remittances.
“We are well-prepared for it at every level,” Mehrin Liaqat, spokesperson for the Ministry of Finance, told Arab News.
She said that every government department, including the Ministry of Finance and the State Bank of Pakistan, have done their best to plug loopholes in the system through amendments in certain rules and regulations.
“We are hopeful we can satisfy the visiting FATF team (about actions taken to block terror financing),” she said.
Liaqat said the nine-member team of the Asia Pacific Group — an arm of the Paris-based FATF — arrived here on Sunday to begin a 12-day “on-site inspection” of the country.
“Today, the FATF team is holding negotiations at the secretary level,” she said. “Later, they will meet the finance minister and other officials as well.”
Pakistan was placed on the FATF “gray list” in June this year during a plenary session of the global watchdog in Paris after a review of the monitoring report of the International Cooperation Review Group.
The FATF is an intergovernmental body based in Paris which battles money laundering, terrorist financing and other threats to the international financial system. It was set up in 1989.
Pakistan and the FATF negotiated a 10-point action plan to be implemented by September 2019 to get off the gray list.
In August, a FATF team visited Islamabad to identify deficiencies in Pakistan’s anti-money laundering and counter-terror financing laws and mechanisms.
The government last week announced that it had finalized amendments to relevant laws — Federal Investigation Agency Act 1974, Foreign Exchange Regulation Act 1947, Customs Act 1969, and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2010 — that would be presented to the prime minister and his cabinet for approval.
Ministry of Finance officials will inform the FATF team about the proposed amendments in the laws to plug the loopholes, and then table them in parliament for passage, Ministry of Finance officials told Arab News.
The visiting team will also be briefed about the amendments introduced recently to block terror financing in rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan and the State Bank of Pakistan.
Dr. Kaiser Bengali, a renowned economist, said that it is in Pakistan’s interest to plug loopholes in the legal system to block terror financing through money laundering and illegal remittances.
“We should not wait for anybody to ask us to fix the loopholes in our economic system,” he told Arab News.
FATF team on 12-day onsite inspection, Islamabad says ‘we are prepared’
FATF team on 12-day onsite inspection, Islamabad says ‘we are prepared’
- Nine-member FATF team is in Islamabad and holding secretary-level talks at Ministry of Finance
- Pakistan is required to implement a 10-point action plan by September 2019 to get off the FATF’s gray list
Curfew extended in Gilgit-Baltistan, probe ordered after deadly Khamenei protests
- At least 15 people were killed in clashes with law enforcement agencies over the weekend in Gilgit-Baltistan
- Government also announces a de-weaponization campaign, crackdown on hate speech and cybercrime in region
ISLAMABAD: The government in Pakistan’s Gilgit-Baltistan (GB) region on Tuesday extended a curfew in Gilgit district and ordered a judicial probe into violent protests over the killing of Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei in US-Israeli strikes last week, an official said.
At least 15 people were killed in clashes with law enforcement agencies over the weekend in GB, where protesters torched and vandalized several buildings, including United Nations regional offices, an army-run school, software technology park and a local charity building.
The violence prompted regional authorities to impose curfew in Gilgit and Skardu districts on March 2-4 as officials urged people to stay indoors and cooperate with law enforcers, amid widespread anger in Pakistan, particularly among members of the Shiite minority, over Khamenei’s killing.
On Tuesday, the GB government convened to review the situation and announced the extension of curfew in Gilgit among a number of security measures as well as ordered the establishment of a judicial commission to investigate the weekend violence in the region.
“The government has made it clear that the law will strictly take its course against elements involved in vandalism at government institutions, private properties and incidents of vandalism in Gilgit and Skardu and no kind of mischief will be tolerated,” Shabbir Mir, a GB government spokesperson, said in a statement.
“In view of the security situation, curfew will remain in force in Gilgit, while the decision to extend the curfew in Skardu will be taken keeping the ground realities and the changing situation in view.”
The statement did not specify how long the curfew will remain in place in Gilgit.
Besides the formation of the judicial commission to investigate the violent clashes, the government also decided to launch a large-scale de-weaponization campaign in the entire Gilgit district, for which relevant institutions have been directed to immediately complete all necessary arrangements, according to Mir.
In addition, a crackdown has been ordered on hate speech, spread of fake news and cybercrime.
“The aim of these decisions is to ensure the rule of law, protect the lives and property of citizens and crack down on miscreants,” he said. “Approval has also been given to immediately survey the affected infrastructure and start their restoration work on priority basis.”
Demonstrators in Pakistan’s southern port city of Karachi also stormed the US Consulate on Sunday, smashing windows and attempting to burn the building. Police responded with batons, tear gas, and gunfire, leaving 10 people dead and more than 50 injured.
Pakistani authorities have since beefed up security at US diplomatic missions across the country, including around the US consulate building in Peshawar, to avoid any further violence.
