FATF’s Asia Pacific Group keeps Pakistan in the enhanced follow up list

News: Asia-Pacific Group (APG) on Money Laundering has retained Pakistan on its ‘Enhanced Follow-Up’ list.This was the first Follow-Up Report on Mutual Evaluation of Pakistan released by the Asia-Pacific Group (APG).

Facts:

• What is Mutual Evaluation Report: It is a peer-review system to determine whether countries meet the compliance standards for money laundering and terror financing.
• After a country submits a Mutual Evaluation report, APG members can decide to place a member either through regular or enhanced follow-up.
  • A regular follow-up means just biennial reports.
  • A country put under enhanced follow-up has to send four reports of compliance the following year.
• Why was Pakistan retained on the Follow up list? Pakistan’s progress on the 40 FATF recommendations on the effectiveness of anti-money laundering and combating financing terror (AML/CFT) systems largely remained unchanged.

Additional Facts:

• APG: It is a regional affiliate of the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
  • Where was it founded? 1997 in Bangkok, Thailand
  • Members: It currently consists of 41 members in the Asia-Pacific region.
  • Secretariat: Sydney, Australia. 
• FATF: It is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 during the G7 Summit in Paris.
  • Aim: To set standards and promote effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering and terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.
  • Members: It comprises 37 member jurisdictions and 2 regional organisations representing most major financial centres in all parts of the globe.
  • Secretariat: It is located at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) headquarters in Paris, France.