Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan submitted a report comprising answers to 22 questions to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), officials said on Friday.

The Paris-based international terror financing watchdog which kept Pakistan on the Grey List for an extended period till February 2020, had warned in October that Islamabad would be put on the Black List if it did not comply with the remaining 22 points in a list of 27.

Pakistan submitted a report comprising answers to 22 questions to the FATF, Geo News quoted officials as saying.

The report details Pakistan”s actions against the groups the United Nations has listed as terrorist organizations as well as sentences handed to them by the courts.

The FATF had already granted an extension till February 2020 in a meeting in October this year. The task force kept the country on its grey list for an extended period up to February 2020 and warned that Islamabad would be put on the blacklist if it did not comply with the remaining 22 out of 27 points related to anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing.
The first formal response from the FATF is awaited till this month-end.
“The face to face meeting is expected to be held in Sydney in early January 2020 where Pakistani delegation will be given an opportunity to defend its submitted compliance report,” a source was quoted as saying.
Later, FATF’s plenary review meeting is scheduled to take place in February 2020 in Paris to decide the fate of the country.

The FATF said Pakistan must demonstrate effective implementation of targeted financial sanctions against all UN 1267 and 1373 designated terrorists like Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed, Jaish-e-Mohammad founder Maulana Masood Azhar, and and those acting for or on their behalf.

The FATF is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.