Will Pakistan be out of the 'Grey List'? Decision this week in FATF plenary meeting

 Will Pakistan be out of the 'Grey List'? Decision this week in FATF plenary meeting

Days before the last plenary meeting of the FATF in June, a Pakistani court convicted Lashkar-e-Taiba member Sajid Mir on terror financing charges. Islamabad had earlier claimed that Mir, who directed the 2008 Mumbai attacks, was presumed dead

New Delhi: The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) is set to meet in a plenary meeting this week to decide whether to remove Pakistan from the "grey list" of increased surveillance.

Pakistan was included in the gray list in June 2018 for its failure to combat terrorism financing and money laundering. Pakistan is widely expected to be out of the list because at the last plenary meeting of the FATF in June, the country "extensively addressed" all 34 work items in the two action plans given out by the multilateral watchdog.

The plenary meeting to be held in Paris from October 20-21 will be chaired by T Raja Kumar of Singapore, who will replace Marcus Pleier of Germany in June. The meeting will review surveillance or gray list cases in other countries, including Pakistan, provide guidance on measures to prevent shell companies from using illicit funds, and consider proposals to enhance global asset recovery.

Delegates representing the 206 members of the FATF's global network and observer organizations, including the International Monetary Fund, the United Nations, the World Bank, Interpol and the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units, will attend working groups and plenary meetings in Paris.

Pakistan was initially given a 27-point action plan by the FATF in 2018 to curb terror financing, and last year another seven-point action plan to combat money laundering.

A 15-member delegation from the FATF and its regional partner, the Asia Pacific Group (APG), visited Pakistan from 29 August to 2 September to assess on the ground its efforts to curb terrorism financing and prosecute those involved. To be. Such activities including members of UN designated terrorist groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).

The report prepared by this delegation will be presented in the plenary meeting.

Days before the last plenary meeting of the FATF in June, a Pakistani anti-terrorism court convicted and sentenced Lashkar-e-Taiba operative Sajid Mir on terror financing charges. This comes after months of claims by Islamabad that Mir, who played a key role in planning and directing the 2008 Mumbai attacks, was presumed dead.

Despite such steps taken by Pakistani authorities, people familiar with the matter said concerns remain about the failure to prosecute other leaders of UN-designated groups, such as JeM chief Masood Azhar. Pakistani officials have argued in recent weeks that Azhar is believed to be in Afghanistan, a claim rejected by the Taliban's establishment in Kabul.