FATF gives Pak till Feb to curb terror funding

INDICTED Global anti-terror watchdog warns Islamabad it could end up on blacklist

NEW DELHI: The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on Friday warned Pakistan it would be placed on the multilateral watchdog’s blacklist if it fails to improve its counterterror financing operations by February 2020, highlighting the country’s failure to crack down on fund-raising by UN-designated terrorists.

The FATF concluded during its plenary meeting in Paris that Pakistan had failed to deliver on 22 out of 27 items in an action plan drawn up after the country was placed in the grey list in June 2018. Inclusion in the black list will entail harsher sanctions and greater global scrutiny of financial transactions, which could hit investments and business.

Briefing the media after the meeting, FATF president Xiangmin Liu of China made it clear the time had come for Pakistan to deliver on the action plan, the deadline for which was September. “Pakistan needs to do more and it needs to do it faster. Pakistan’s failure to fulfil FATF’s global standards is an issue we take very seriously,” Xiangmin said.

“As a result, the FATF is giving this very clear warning — if, by February 2020, the country has not made significant progress, we would consider further actions, which potentially include placing the country on the... black list.”

The FATF listed 10 steps it expects Pakistan to take to counterterror financing, including targeted actions against UN-designated global terrorists such as Lashkar-e-Taiba founder Hafiz Saeed and Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar.

Without naming specific terrorists, an official statement said Pakistan must effectively implement targeted financial sanctions against all terrorists designated under UN Security Council resolutions 1267 and 1373 and those acting on their behalf, including preventing the raising and moving of funds, freezing assets, and prohibiting access to funds and financial services.

People familiar with the developments said Pakistan was saved from being included in the black list because of the stance adopted by China, Turkey and Malaysia.