Hamad Azhar Says Pakistan Will Soon Be Out Of FATF Grey List

Federal Minister for Industries and Production Hamad Azhar has said that Pakistan will soon be out of FATF grey list and a positive message will be sent to the world.

According to the details, Federal Minister Hamad Azhar while talking to media said that the government is achieving two equal conditions of FATF. In the last session, all countries except India praised Pakistan.

Hamad Azhar said that 27 conditions have been fulfilled, the remaining 6 conditions will be completed in February 2021, 14 amendments should be passed by the parliament which was appreciated in the FATF.

The Federal Minister said that Pakistan’s better performance was acknowledged in the FATF meeting and hoped that it would be removed from the grey list soon.

It may be recalled that in June 2018, the FATF added Pakistan to its grey list. Pakistan was given time till October 2019 to take necessary steps in this regard, which was later extended for another four months.

Following the FATF’s grey list, Pakistan has taken significant steps, including amendments to existing laws on anti-money laundering and terrorist financing, including action and arrests against banned organizations.

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Earlier in October this year, in a meting the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has decided to keep Pakistan on the grey list, for now, however, it appreciated the reforms it carried out.

The FATF President Marcus Pleyer said while talking to the media via video link that,

“The plenary has decided to keep Pakistan in ‘grey list’ until February 2021 despite the country has successfully complied with 21 out of 27 points of action.”

According to the details, Pakistan’s progress was reviewed by the global watchdog on the 27-point action plan for addressing terror financing and anti-money laundering.

“Pakistan has to do more. To date, Pakistan has made progress across all action plan items and has now largely addressed. As all action plan deadlines have expired, the FATF strongly urges Pakistan to swiftly complete its full action plan by February 2021,” said the President.

When asked about if Pakistan remains on the blacklist or not, Marcus Pleyer said,

“Let me clear, Pakistan is on the gray list, the country has made great progress and the government has cooperated too. We hope by our next deadline they would address the remaining six points of action.”

In the wake of FATF conclusion, Hammad Azhar, the Federal Minister of Industries and Production, took to Twitter and highlighted Pakistan’s achievement.

“Within a year, we progressed from 5/27 to 21/27 completed items. FATF acknowledged that any blacklisting is off the table now,” he tweeted.

He went on to congratulate the government,

“I congratulate our Federal and Provincial Teams who have worked day and night even during the pandemic to ensure this turnaround.”

Instead of current Action Plan, discussions remained focused on how Pak can be facilitated for our upcoming 2nd evaluation (MER), due mid next year.
I congratulate our Federal and Provincial Teams who have worked day and night even during the pandemic to ensure this turn around.

— Hammad Azhar (@Hammad_Azhar) October 23, 2020