Pak to make more changes to terror law to comply with FATF

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistani government has proposed legal changes to its anti-terror laws for the third time in nine months to meet the requirements of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), The Express Tribune newspaper reported on Sunday.

More than six amendments are recommended in the Antiterrorism Act of 1997 that also seeks to promptly and effectively investigate terror financing cases and ensure strict punishments, the report said.

The draft proposes removal of restriction of court’s permission for seeking financial information from banks and recommends such powers for the deputy inspector general of the police to ensure a swift investigation into the terror financing cases.

It is the third draft bill that the government has proposed since November last year. Earlier, two bills were also introduced to amend the ATA 1997. The first was introduced in November last year while the second ATA amendment bill was introduced in January 2020.

Pakistan is in the process of amending eight laws to satisfy the FATF – the global terror financing watchdog– which is likely to meet in October to review Islamabad’s case. It has been placed in the grey list since June 2018 but has won multiple extensions to fully implement the 27-point action plan to exit the list.