ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Foreign Office (FO) on Friday said that engagement with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a global dirty money watchdog, had helped the country improve laws in the anti-money laundering and countering financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) domain.
The statement came hours after FATF removed Pakistan from a list of countries under “increased monitoring” for terrorism financing, to which it was added in June 2018.
Being on the Paris-based watchdog’s ‘grey’ list can scare away investors and creditors, hurting exports, output and consumption. It also can make global banks wary of doing business with a country.
“The engagement with FATF has led to strategic improvements in Pakistan’s laws and procedures, making its domestic AML/CFT regime more resilient to cope with current and future challenges,” Pakistan’s Foreign Office said in a statement.
Pakistan also thanked FATF members and the international community for providing valuable support during this period.
“Pakistan reiterates that it will continue building on this mutually beneficial cooperation to sustain the gains,” the statement said. “Pakistan also looks forward to sharing its expertise, knowledge and experience with other countries to enhance effectiveness of FATF standards at the global level.”
Pakistan’s State Minister for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar, who led the country’s delegation to the FATF plenary, said the development showed Pakistan could achieve much when all stake-holders worked together for the country’s interest.
“This has been a long and arduous journey that has only been made possible through strong political ownership across the political spectrum,” Khar said on Twitter.
