Pakistan Army played key role in winning FATF approval

ISLAMABAD: The role of the Pakistani military was critical in winning the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) approval after fulfilling the 34-point action set by the international watchdog.

On Friday, after a four-day meeting of the organisation, FATF President Marcus Pleyer welcomed the progress made by Pakistan and hinted at a change in status if its next monitoring visit is successful.

"After a lot of work by the Pakistani authorities" the country has "largely addressed all 34 action items" in a plan agreed with the organisation, Pleyer said.

"Pakistan has demonstrated that it is now pursuing terrorist financing investigations and prosecutions against senior leaders of UN-designated terrorist groups and pursuing money laundering investigations and prosecutions in line with its risk profile," he added.

According to a report, a special cell was established at the General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi which worked day and night to achieve the herculean task of meeting the tough target set for the country over the period of four years to graduate from the grey list to the white list.

The armed forces, along with the government and national institutions, ensured the implementation of all the points and thwarted India's attempt to keep Pakistan on the grey list, it added.

The army chief, in consultation with the government, established a special cell in 2019 under the leadership of the director-general of military operations to coordinate on it.

The GHQ-based cell worked tirelessly to develop an effective strategy on money laundering and terror financing, which led to the country’s removal from the FATF grey list.

The report stated that Pakistan completed its 2021 Action Plan ahead of the timelines set by the FATF, i.e. January 2023, adding that over the past four years, there has been a decline in terrorist financing and money laundering in Pakistan.

This success was made possible by the continuous improvement of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism laws.

'Completion of FATF action plans by Pakistan great achievement'

Appreciating the development, Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa Friday said the completion of the FATF’s anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism and proliferation (AML/CFT) action plans by Pakistan is a great achievement.

DG ISPR Major General Babar Iftikhar shared the message of the Army Chief on his official Twitter handle.

“A monumental effort paving the way [for] whitelisting. Core cell @ GHQ which steered the national effort and civil-military team which synergised implementation of action plan made it possible, making Pak proud,” the COAS said.