Pakistan was removed from the “increased monitoring” of a global task force on Friday that monitored money laundering schemes.
The removal from the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force’s list comes four years after the country was placed on the monitoring register and after the country improved its crackdowns on money laundering schemes. The removal gives a reputation boost to the South Asian country.
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“After a lot of work by the Pakistani authorities, they have worked through two separate action plans and completed a combined 34 action items to address deficiencies in their anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing systems,” FATF president T Raja Kumar told a news conference in Paris.
The Task Force, an international watchdog, placed Pakistan on its so-called “grey list” in June 2018 after Pakistan’s capital Islamabad failed to implement policies that would remove financing of international terror groups. In June 2022, FATF said Pakistan would remain on the same list but could be removed after an in-person observation. The watchdog stated that the observation did show adequate progress.
Because of its removal, the country is now allowed to apply for financial aid as it faces a cost-of-living crisis and other monetary crises, including devastating floods that caused at least $30 billion in damage and losses.
“Pakistan exiting the FATF grey list is a vindication of our determined and sustained efforts over the years,” Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif tweeted Friday. “I would like to congratulate our civil & military leadership as well as all institutions whose hard work led to today’s success.”
Pakistan ?? exiting the FATF grey list is a vindication of our determined and sustained efforts over the years. I would like to congratulate our civil & military leadership as well as all institutions whose hard work led to today’s success. Aap sab ko bohat bohat Mubarak 🙂
— Shehbaz Sharif (@CMShehbaz) October 21, 2022
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Syria, Turkey, Myanmar, Philippines, South Sudan, Uganda, and Yemen are among those still on the think tank’s increased monitoring list as of March.
