Saturday, 26 June, 2021 I 15 Dhul-Qadah, 1442 I Rs 15.00 I Vol XI No 356 I 12 Pages I Lahore Edition
FATF decides To keep pAkisTAn on grey lisT g
Dr Marcus Pleyer says Pakistan has MaDe ‘significant Progress’ aDDressing 26 out of 27 iteMs on action Plan
T
he financial action task force has decided to keep Pakistan on its grey list as it is yet to fully implement the action plan. the decision was taken as its five-day virtual meeting in Paris that started on June 21 concluded. announcing the decision in a virtual press conference after the financial watchdog's five-day plenary meeting, fatf President Dr Marcus Pleyer said, "Pakistan has made significant progress and it has largely addressed 26 out of 27 items on the action plan it first committed to in June 2018." Pleyer, however, added that the item on financial terrorism still needed to be addressed which concerned the "investigation and prosecution of senior leaders and commanders of un-designated terror groups". he also pointed out that "a separate process has been taking place over the past few years" insofar as Pakistan was concerned "Back in 2019, fatf regional partner, the asia Pacific group (aPg), identified a number of serious issues during its assessment of Pakistan’s entire anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing system. since then Pakistan has made improvements. this includes clear efforts to raise awareness in the private sector to money laundering risks and to develop and use financial intelligence to build cases." But, he said, Pakistan was still "failing to effectively implement the global fatf standards" across a number of areas. "this means risks of money laundering remain high which in turn can fuel corruption and organised crime. that is why the fatf has worked with the Pakistan government to work on areas that need to be improved as part of the new action plan that largely focuses on money laundering risks. this includes increasing the number of investigations and prosecutions and making sure that law
enforcement agencies cooperate internationally to trace, freeze and confiscate assets. "this is about helping authorities stop corruption and prevent organised criminals from profiting from their crimes and undermining the financial system and legitimate economy in Pakistan," Pleyer said. When asked about the new action plan after the aPg evaluation, Pleyer said the plan had "six action items including enhancing international cooperation and demonstrating that assistance is being sought from foreign countries in implementing un security council designations". he said "this is about demonstrating that supervisors are conducting both onsite and offsite supervision commensurate with the specific risks associated with the non-financial sector." "it’s also about demonstrating that sanctions are applied to all legal persons and
arrangements for non-compliance with beneficial ownership requirements; increase in money laundering investigations and demonstrating that non-financial sector is being monitored for compliance with proliferation financing requirements," he added. the watchdog's president, responding to a question, said all items on both action plans needed to be addressed and goals fulfilled for countries to exit the grey list. for Pakistan, Pleyer said, even after the last remaining item on the original action plan was addressed, delisting would not occur as there was a parallel action plan that was also given. he said this while responding to a question from an indian journalist, who had asked if Pakistan would be delisted after addressing the single remaining item on the original action plan or if the five additional items added by the asia Pacific group would also need to be addressed. "as soon as this last remaining item of the [original] action plan is largely addressed, the members will decide whether they will grant an onsite [assessment] for this action plan. usually once an onsite [assessment] has been successfully completed, the membership can decide on delisting a country. "But in this case we have a parallel action plan with all the action items in the second action plan. then Pakistan must also largely complete all the items on this action plan and then there will be a separate onsite [assessment] to decide on this action plan. "so the delisting will not occur before both action plans are completed and two onsite [assessments] have been granted and successfully completed and have shown that the improvements are sustainable before the fatf members decide on delisting," Pleyer said. News Desk
CONTINUED ON PAGE 05
5 FC soldiers martyred in Sibi terrorist attack: ISPR five soldiers from frontier corps, Balochistan, were martyred after terrorists targeted a patrolling party in sibi district’s sangan area, the military’s media affairs wing said on friday. “During the exchange of fire, heavy losses were inflicted on to the terrorists in men and materials,” the inter-services Public relations said in a statement. the five martyred soldiers were identified as havildar Zafar ali khan, lance naik hidayatullah, lance naik nasir abbas, lance naik Basheer ahmed and sepoy noorullah. “a sanitisation/search operation is also in progress to block the escape routes of the terrorists and apprehend the perpetrators,” the isPr said. “such cowardly acts by inimical elements, backed by hostile intelligence agencies, cannot sabotage the hard earned peace and prosperity in Balochistan,” the statement said. “security forces are determined to neutralise their nefarious designs even at the cost of blood and lives,” it concluded. interior Minister sheikh rashid ahmed condemned the terrorist attack and offered prayers for the martyred soldiers.
“terrorists cannot demoralise us by carrying out such cowardly attacks. the state will fight against terrorists will all its might,” he said, adding that fc Balochistan have made great sacrifices for the country’s safety and security. in a statement, leader of the opposition in the national assembly shehbaz sharif condemned the attack and paid tribute to the martyred soldiers. “the increase in unrest in Balochistan is alarming. the law and order situation needs immediate attention,” he said. earlier this month, four soldiers from fc Balochistan, including a junior commissioned officer, had embraced martyrdom in a blast on the MargetQuetta road. according to the isPr, terrorists had used an improvised explosive device to target the fc troops who were employed on the road for security of Marget mines. the martyred soldiers were identified as subedar sardar ali khan, a resident of lakki Marwat; sepoy Musaddaf hussain, a resident of Vehari; sepoy Muhammad anwar, who belonged to Dera ismail khan; and sepoy awais khan, a resident of neelum. News Desk