FATF And Pakistan.

In the opening paragraph of its report issued on June 17, the FATF has told Russia in no uncertain terms that Moscow's role and influence within the platform, being a member of FATF, has been 'severely limited' as a result of its invasion of Ukraine. By expressing its 'deepest sympathies for the people of Ukraine' and its resolve to 'continue to deplore the huge loss of life caused by the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine', the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has confirmed certain fears of countries like Pakistan. Besides being technical-in-nature, the FATF has after all, some politically motivated objectives as well. Otherwise, why would a purely technical-in-nature Intergovernmental money-laundering watchdog take sides on any unrelated geo-strategic subject?

FATF is believed to be technical-in-nature because promulgation and complete implementation of laws on money laundering or terrorist financing requires certain concrete steps. It is assumed to be political because a decision to paint any country as 'grey' or 'black' is taken by a politically motivated international body that provides relief or otherwise by applying a kind of 'flexible' criteria. A cursory look at the countries presently placed under black and grey lists would reveal the FATF's political inclination unless it is purely coincidental.

To identify non-complying countries, the FATF has maintained its blacklist or the 'Call for Action' countries and the FATF grey list or the 'Other monitored jurisdictions' since 2000. The blacklist is the Agency's official list of Non-Cooperative Countries or Territories (NCCTs) which it judges to be non-cooperative in the global fight against money laundering and terrorist financing. Would it surprise you to see only Iran and North Korea in the blacklist?

The list of countries or jurisdictions under increased monitoring are often referred to as 'grey'. Out of the twenty-three countries reflected in the FATF's grey list, Pakistan is the only nuclear state with 'strategic deficiencies' and under 'increased monitoring'. The latest grey list issued by the FATF at its Plenary, ended last week, reflects twenty-two other countries including Turkey, Yemen, Syria, Nicaragua, Morocco, Jordon, UAE and Philippines. These countries are required to address strategic deficiencies in their regimes to counter money laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing within agreed upon timeframes. Would you be surprised to know that being...