Tag: Financial Action Task Force

  • Pakistan suspends cryptocurrency services to combat illegal transactions

    Pakistan suspends cryptocurrency services to combat illegal transactions

    The Pakistani government announced on Wednesday that it will suspend cryptocurrency services provided over the internet in the country in order to prevent illicit digital currency transactions.

    According to Geo, the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) and the Ministry of Information Technology have already begun the process of prohibiting cryptocurrencies, complying with the directives.

    During a briefing to the Senate Standing Committee on Finance, Dr Aisha Ghaus Pasha, the Minister of State for Finance and Revenue, emphasised that cryptocurrency will never be legalised in Pakistan.

    She revealed that the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has imposed restrictions on the matter, stating that the condition set by FATF is that cryptocurrency will not be legalised.

    Supporting Pasha’s stance, Sohail Jawad, the Director of SBP, stated that crypto transactions carry high risks and will therefore never be granted permission in Pakistan. He explained that cryptocurrency is a virtual currency with over 16,000 types currently in existence. Additionally, he mentioned that the market, which was valued at $2.8 trillion, has now shrunk to $1.2 trillion.

    Senator Saleem Mandviwalla from the Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) expressed concerns over the billions of dollars invested in the market. In response, the SBP official reassured him by mentioning that the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and the Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU), a financial intelligence unit aiding Pakistan in combating terrorism financing and money laundering, are actively addressing these concerns.

    Pakistan has witnessed a surge in cryptocurrency trading and mining, as evidenced by the growing interest in related social media videos and online exchange transactions.

    Although the government had previously banned trading and mining of virtual currencies in April 2018, cryptocurrency mining continues to thrive in the country, despite the closure of several mining farms.

    Most exchanges operate discreetly through undisclosed partners, evading regulatory oversight. Nevertheless, the government persists in its efforts to curtail crypto trading activities.

  • EU removes Pakistan from its high-risk third countries list

    EU removes Pakistan from its high-risk third countries list

    The European Union (EU) has officially removed Pakistan from its “List of High-Risk Third Countries” due to the country’s successful implementation of measures to address the strategic deficiencies in their Anti Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) regime. This means that Pakistani businesses and individuals will no longer be subjected to “Enhanced Customer Due Diligence” by the EU’s legal and economic operators.

    According to the delegated regulation, Pakistan has remedied the strategic deficiencies in its AML/CFT regime and no longer poses a significant AML/CFT threat to the international financial system. This decision has led to the removal of Pakistan from the list of nations with strategic deficiencies in their respective AML/CFT frameworks, and they do not pose a significant threat to the financial system of the European Union.

    As a result of this decision, the “Obligated Entities” in EU member states would no longer be required to apply “Enhanced Customer Due Diligence” while dealing with individuals and legal entities established in Pakistan. The “Obligated Entities” include credit institutions, financial institutions, natural or legal persons acting in the exercise of their professional activities, auditors, external accountants, tax advisors, notaries, and other independent legal professionals.

    Pakistan was initially included in the “List of High-Risk Countries” on October 22, 2018, by the EU. However, the decision to remove Pakistan from the list will add to the comfort level of European economic operators and is likely to ease the cost and time of legal and financial transactions by Pakistani entities and individuals in the region. The UK had previously removed Pakistan from its high-risk list in November 2022.

  • Who is responsible for getting Pakistan off the ‘terror watch list’?

    Who is responsible for getting Pakistan off the ‘terror watch list’?

    After years of relentless hard work, Pakistan finally received a positive response from the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). The country is finally close to its removal from the global money-laundering and terrorist financing watchdog’s ‘grey list’. This for sure is a huge win for the country. This was made possible after countless days and nights our officials worked to bring Pakistan one step closer to being removed from the grey list. But here’s the twist. Who should be crowned for the FATF success? Many people are declaring it as their own victory.

    Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan credited his government for this achievement. Khan congratulated former Energy Minister Hammad Azhar who was the main man working on FATF. On the other hand, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif also congratulated the nation and appreciated the performance of Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar and the members of her team. According to Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, the premier made a telephone call to the army chief and “lauded his decision to set up the core cell at the GHQ”. Director-General (DG) Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major-General Babar Iftikhar termed the development “a great achievement” and gave credit to the “civil-military team” and mainly to the core cell set up at the army’s General Headquarters (GHQ) in Rawalpindi for it.

    Though there is no doubt that the road to success in terms of FATF has been a long one for Pakistan, let us not forget that many have done a lot of hard work to bring the country to this point. But this recent episode of many claiming credit for our success at FATF has raised one question: Can we as a nation stand united and be able to celebrate the major wins together, keeping aside our political and personal differences? The answer, for now, seems, ‘no’. The recent political scenario has divided the nation so much that even conversing on a simple topic that involves politics ends up in a heated argument. Does one wonder where have the days of critical thinking and constructive debate gone? We can only hope that Pakistanis — be it politicians, think-tankers, policymakers or the common citizen — be able to celebrate Pakistan for its glory and wins.

  • Pakistan likely to be removed from FATF grey list today

    Pakistan likely to be removed from FATF grey list today

    Pakistan is hopeful of getting off the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list.

    The Pakistani delegation attending the conference in Berlin is headed by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar, who is also the chair of the National FATF Coordination Committee.

    Pakistan was added to the list in 2018 and was given a list of actions to be completed. In a review held in March 2022, FATF retained Pakistan on the list, saying that the country has “made significant progress in fulfilling its recommendations”.

    FATF had directed Pakistan to fulfill 34 conditions in two stages. Pakistan fulfilled 32 out of 34 conditions in the last FATF meeting and completed the remaining two in this meeting.

    After news of Pakistan’s expected removal from the grey list spread on social media, Rabbani took to Twitter and said, “FATF will issue a Public Statement after the conclusion of the meetings tonight. Prejudging the outcome or speculative reporting could and should be avoided.”

    There will be a press briefing in Berlin on the outcomes of the FATF Plenary today (June 17).

  • ‘Some powers desire to keep the sword of FATF hanging over Pakistan’: Shah Mahmood Qureshi

    Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi questioned the decision of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) of keeping Pakistan on its “increased monitoring list”, also known as the grey list, after the country completed 26 out of the 27 points under the action plan given by the financial watchdog.

    Qureshi said there was “no room” to keep Pakistan on the grey list after it had implemented nearly the entire action plan, according to a report by Radio Pakistan.

    The foreign minister said it needed to be looked into whether FATF was “being used for political purposes”, adding that “some powers desire to keep the sword of FATF hanging over Pakistan.”

    Qureshi made it clear that whatever steps Pakistan took were in its own interests. He said it is in our interest to stop money laundering and terror financing.

    A day earlier, FATF President Dr Marcus Pleyer said Pakistan would remain on the grey list till it addresses the single remaining item on the original action plan agreed to in June 2018 as well as all items on a parallel action plan handed out by the watchdog’s regional partner — the Asia Pacific Group (APG) — in 2019.

    “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,” he said at a virtual press conference after the financial watchdog’s five-day plenary meeting.