National Assembly clears five Fatf-related bills

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly has passed five bills related to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) ater reaching consensus with the major opposition parties.

However, Minister for Law and Justice Farogh Naseem on the request of opposition MP Maulana Akbar Chitrali deferred the Islamabad Capital Territory Waqf Properties Bill, 2020.

The bills passed by the Lower House of Parliament included the Anti-terrorism (Amendment) Bill, 2020 (Sections 6, 11EE, 11J, 11N, 11O, 11OO, 11Q, 19 and 21EE); the Limited Liability Partnership (Amendment) Bill, 2020; the Companies (Amendment) Bill, 2020; the Control of Narcotic Substances (Amendment) Bill, 2020; and the Islamabad Capital Territory Trust Bill, 2020.

The Anti-terrorism (Amendment) bill is aimed at enhancing the effectiveness of the implementation of the orders passed by the federal government under the Anti-terrorism Act, 1997 and the United Nations (Security Council) Act, 1948.

However, Chief of the Balochistan National Party-mengal (BNP-M) Sardar Akhtar Mengal announced that his party neither supports the bills nor opposes them.

Naseem said it is a historic day that the Fatf-related legislation is being carried out with consensus in the larger interest of Pakistan.

He said whitening the economy and checking terror financing is important to take the country forward on the path of development. He said it is also the government’s aim to simplify the legislation and ensure protection of fundamental rights of the people.

Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said terror financing and money laundering was a menace that the country needed to confront and eradicate.

“Long deliberations were held with the opposition parties to reach consensus on the Fatf-related legislation,” he said. He said that the suggestions put forward by the opposition had been incorporated in the bill as part of the amendments.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) lawmaker Syed Naveed Qamar said the definition of financial terrorism has been changed in the money laundering bill.

He said the purpose of the anti-money laundering was to stop the black economy and in the bill even it was made mandatory for the jeweller to provide details of the customer.

“We wanted the end of Benami transaction in the country and if anyone was doing the business on someone else’s name then this should be ended,” he said.

Qamar said the sword of FATF was hanging over the country since long and there were some mistakes of the past governments and businessmen were also responsible.