Imran Khan
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan addresses at the 74th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), at United Nations on Sep 27, 2019.IANS

With the deadline to show the steps taken to combat terrorism looming over Pakistan, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which monitors international money laundering, does not seem hopeful of the country escaping the blacklist.

The FATF will next week make a decision over moving Pakistan from the greylist to the blacklist. 

The statement comes in the backdrop of the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) report on terror-financing and money laundering, on which Pakistan scored poorly. 

The parameters for the measurement were 'Effectiveness and Technical Compliance Ratings', comprising of 10 categories and 40 in 'Technical Compliance Ratings'.

The APG report card read: "With the exception of some recent actions discussed in detail below, Pakistan has not taken sufficient measures to fully implement UNSCR 1267 obligations against all listed individuals and entities - especially those associated with Lashkar-e-Tayyiba (LeT)/Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), and Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (FIF) as well as the groups' leader Hafiz Saeed."

In the effectiveness categories, Pakistan scored 'low' in nine out of ten and 'moderate' in one. In addition to this, they were found 'compliant' in only one category in the 'Technical Compliance', non-compliant in four categories, partially compliant in 26 categories and largely complaint in nine categories, according to an India Today report.

The report also said: "Despite being listed by the UNSCR 1267 Committee in 2008 (JuD) and 2012 (FIF), before February 2018, JuD/FIF openly operated in Pakistan, including holding public rallies and fundraising events. Numerous Pakistani media reports showed FIF raising funds ostensibly for humanitarian relief, as well as operating a large ambulance fleet, which calls into question whether the prohibition on providing funds and financial services was being fully implemented."

The report went on to read that in February 2018, Pakistan passed the Anti-Terrorism (Amendment) Ordinance 2018, which amended the ATA to automatically proscribe individuals and entities listed at the United Nations.

"Immediately, following the adoption of this amendment, Pakistan seized numerous articles of property (both moveable and non-moveable - see below) belonging to JuD/FIF, after minimal actions had been taken prior to this point," it added.

"However, the ordinance's duration was limited to 120 days (and is thus expired) and was not renewed or permanently adopted into law. It is not clear why Pakistan decided to make UN-designated entities automatically proscribed for 120 days given that during the onsite visit authorities stated that this Ordinance was never necessary in order to implement Pakistan's UNSCR 1267 obligations," it read.

"Pakistan's recent efforts to fully implement UNSCR 1267 against JuD/FIF were further challenged by a Lahore High Court interim order in April 2018, which prevented the authorities from interfering with the "charitable institutions" of JuD/FIF, despite their status as UN-listed organizations," the report said. 

While blacklisting Pakistan could strength India's position, it will be a difficult task since Xiangmin Liu belonging to the People's Bank of China has taken over as the president of the FATF and the friendship between Pakistan and China is no secret. 

In August, the FATF's Asia Pacific sub-group had placed Pakistan in the "enhanced blacklist" for its failure to meet global standards. The APG conducted a meeting at Canberra in Australia on Thursday, August 22, regarding a five-year mutual evaluation of Pakistan's progress on upgrading its systems in areas of financial and insurance services and sectors.