The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Friday said it will announce an on-site visit to Pakistan after Islamabad completed the 34 items on the watchdog’s list, inching closer to exiting the “grey list”.

“Pakistan has substantially completed its two action plans, covering 34 items, and warrants an on-site visit to verify that the implementation of Pakistan’s AML/CFT reforms has begun and is being sustained,” a statement from the FATF said.

The announcement comes after the FATF’s four-day plenary session concluded in Berlin, where Pakistan’s situation came under discussion. 

The watchdog’s statement acknowledged that the necessary political commitment remains in place to sustain implementation and improvement in the future.

FATF said that since June 2018, Pakistan made a high-level political commitment to work with the FATF and APG to strengthen its anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regime and to address its strategic counter-terrorist financing-related deficiencies.

Following Islamabad’s commitment in 2018, the watchdog said that Pakistan’s continued political commitment to combating both terrorist financing and money laundering has led to significant progress.

In particular, Pakistan demonstrated that terror financing investigations and prosecutions target senior leaders and commanders of UN-designated terrorist groups, the watchdog said.

It added that there is a positive upwards trend in the number of money laundering investigations and prosecutions being pursued in the country, in line with Pakistan’s risk profile.

“In addition, Pakistan also largely addressed its 2021 action plan ahead of the set times,” it noted.

The FATF added that it will continue to monitor the COVID-19 situation and conduct an on-site visit at the earliest possible date.

More to follow