Pakistan ‘not’ on black list, confirms it will be on FATF grey list in June

Pakistan ‘not’ on black list, confirms it will be on FATF grey list in June

Context:

• Pakistan confirmed that it will be on the grey list of Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) in June but disputed claims of being put on a black list.

More in news:

• The lead Ministry for dealing with FATF/ICRG is the Ministry of Finance.
• Secondly, the internal processes of FATF are confidential.
• Pakistan will be assigned to the ‘grey list’ in June, once an Action Plan has been mutually negotiated.
• But, the statement that Pakistan will be transferred from the ‘grey’ to the ‘black’ list in June is  not true.
• The FATF website clearly demarcates the countries in ‘black’ list, as those who are non-cooperative.
• Moreover, FATF has highlighted certain deficiencies in the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering of Terrorist Financing (AML/CFT) framework of Pakistan.
• As a matter of fact, the government of Pakistan, over the last few years, has taken a number of measures to address these issues, including through enactment of legislation, issuance of regulations and guidelines by SBP and SECP to the financial sector, establishment of the Financial Monitoring Unit and implementation of UNSC 1267 sanctions on the entities of concern.

India being criticized:

• India has been criticized because despite calls for restraint, India continues to indulge in ceasefire violations.
• The Forign Office also criticized the Indian Motion Pictures Producers’ Association decision to uphold its ban on Pakistani artists, being caste in Indian media.
• Unfortunately this decision, following several others, including non-issuance of visas to Pakistani Zaireen, refusal to allow participation of Sikhs and Katas raj pilgrims and cancellation of sports matches underscores the growing intolerance and bias prevalent in India exposing the shamocracy it is increasingly becoming.