The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) found that Pakistan has successfully complied with 21 out of 27 points of action and decided to keep the country on its ‘grey list’ until February 2021, the FATF’s President Marcus Pleyer said on October 23, reports Dawn. President Marcus Pleyer announced the decision at a virtual press conference held after the body's three-day plenary session came to an end today. The FATF reviewed Pakistan’s progress on the 27-point action plan for addressing anti-money laundering and terror financing in its plenary session that started on October 21. In a statement issued after the plenary session concluded, the FATF said: "To date, Pakistan has made progress across all action plan items and has now largely addressed 21 of the 27 action items. As all action plan deadlines have expired, the FATF strongly urges Pakistan to swiftly complete its full action plan by February 2021."
The statement added that Pakistan needed to work on four areas to "address its strategic deficiencies". These include: demonstrating that law enforcement agencies (LEAs) are identifying and investigating the widest range of terror financing activity, which target designated persons and entities, and those who act on the behalf/direction of the designated persons or entities; demonstrating that terror financing prosecutions result in effective, proportionate and dissuasive sanctions; demonstrating effective implementation of targeted financial sanctions against all 1267 and 1373 designated terrorists and those acting for or on their behalf; preventing the raising and moving of funds including in relation to non-profit organisations; identifying and freezing assets; and prohibiting access to funds and financial services; demonstrating enforcement against violation of terror financing sanctions, including in relation to NPOs, of administrative and criminal penalties and provincial and federal authorities cooperating on enforcement cases.