One Last Visit.

A spectre has haunted Pakistan, and despite countless efforts to comply with its demands, it doesn't seem to go away. That ghost is the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), whose 15-member team quietly concluded a five-day visit to Pakistan this week. The findings of the 15-member FATF team would be discussed and reviewed in the next meeting of FATF, scheduled in Paris in October.

While this visit may be unnecessary, considering Pakistan has demonstrated countlessly over the past few years how well it has complied with FATF, it is welcome news since Pakistan does not have anything to hide, and we want to leave no stone unturned to exit the grey list. In the three years since 2018, when we were placed on the grey list, Pakistan has addressed 26 out of 27 items on the original action plan. The country has completed four of the seven items on the recent 2021 action plan, complying well with the timelines prescribed by the FATF.

Pakistan has taken a wide range of steps to comply with FATF, including introducing amendments in the Mutual Legal Assistance Act, 2020, AML/CFT, transparency of beneficial ownership information and implementation of targeted...