Pakistan on Tuesday got a four-month reprieve for meeting a deadline set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) to counter terror financing as the multilateral watchdog announced a temporary suspension of its activities because of the Covid-19 crisis.
However, the Paris-based organisation said in a statement that there would be no let-up in its efforts to fight money laundering and terror financing, and that it would actively monitor the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on measures to counter illicit financing.
The move had been widely anticipated as officials of FATF and affiliated regional groups have been unable to make visits to countries such as Pakistan to monitor the implementation of action plans and other programmes because of travel restrictions imposed around the world to prevent the spread of the pandemic.
Pakistan has been on FATF’s “grey list” of “monitored jurisdictions” since June 2018 for failing to counter terror financing, especially by groups such as Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), Taliban, al-Qaeda and Haqqani Network. A FATF plenary meeting in February had warned Pakistan that it had failed to meet all deadlines for a 27-point action plan, and given the country four more months to implement it.
The FATF’s statement said the watchdog had “decided on a general pause in the review process for the list of high-risk jurisdictions subject to a call for action and jurisdictions subject to increased monitoring, by granting jurisdictions an additional four months for deadlines”.
“Thus, the FATF is not reviewing them in June,” the statement said, adding the organisation’s plenary had agreed to “temporarily postpone all remaining FATF mutual evaluations and follow-up deadlines”.
Though FATF posted an updated assessment calendar, Pakistan wasn’t among the countries for which details have been finalised so far. The FATF said the calendar would be updated as the situation evolves.
The statement further said: “Despite the decision to temporarily postpone the above-mentioned process deadlines due to the current force majeure situation, the FATF will not let up its efforts to fight money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing, and will continue working with all jurisdictions in its global network to ensure an effective implementation of its standards.
“The FATF is actively monitoring the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on measures to combat illicit financing. We remain vigilant to the threats posed by criminals and terrorists who may seek to exploit this period to further their criminal objectives.”
The gravity of the Covid-19 crisis globally and consequent measures adopted by countries, such as confinement and travel restrictions, are making it impossible for countries and FATF teams to conduct on-site visits and in-person meetings, the statement said.
“This situation has significantly impacted countries’ ability to actively participate in mutual evaluation and related follow-up processes. The FATF Plenary acknowledges these severe challenges that countries face at this difficult time,” it said.
Pakistan’s performance was to be assessed at review meetings to be held in Beijing during June 21-26. The review is now expected to be done in October.
During its assessment at its plenary meeting in February, the FATF concluded that all deadlines for Pakistan’s action plan “have expired” and the country had “largely addressed” only 14 of the 27 points in the action plan.
FATF had warned Pakistan that if its action plan is not fully implemented, it would face the possibility of being moved to the list of monitored countries, commonly known as the “black list”.
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