Daily Times

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) Wednesday responded to media queries related to Pakistan’s current engagement with the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and stated that the recent visit of the body’s technical team to Pakistan for the purpose of holding discussions with relevant agencies was carried out in a productive manner.

“The focus of the visit was to validate on ground Pakistan’s high-level commitment and sustainability of reforms in our AML/CFT regime. The meetings with the FATF team were held in a constructive and positive atmosphere.

The Report of the FATF Onsite team will be discussed in FATF’s ICRG (International Cooperation Review Group) and Plenary meetings, scheduled to be held in the third week of October 2022 in Paris. Pakistan is looking forward to a logical conclusion to the ongoing evaluation process,” the FO said in a statement.

Reflecting on the status of Pakistan’s progress, the FO noted that FATF’s latest evaluation of Pakistan supersedes its findings in previous years.

With regard to technical compliance with FATF standards, the spokesperson said that Pakistan has now been rated as Compliant / Largely Compliant in 38 out of 40 FATF recommendations, which places the country among the top compliant countries in the world.

It said that the completion of both Action Plans by Pakistan in June 2022 was an acknowledgment by FATF of attaining a high level of effectiveness on the forum’s standards.

“Over the last four years, Pakistan’s effectiveness in AML/CFT regime has increased across all Immediate Outcomes, which has significantly mitigated risks and threats of money laundering and financing of terrorism,” the statement added.