Topics Covered: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India and/or affecting India’s interests.
What is the ”Enhanced Follow-up” list?
Context:
Noting that Pakistan’s measures against money laundering and terror financing “is not yet sufficient to justify a re-rating”, the Asia Pacific Group of FATF has retained the country on its ‘Enhanced Follow-up’ list.
- This was the first Follow-Up Report on Mutual Evaluation of Pakistan released by the Asia-Pacific Group (APG).
Why Pakistan was retained in this list?
Pakistan’s progress on the 40 FATF recommendations on the effectiveness of anti-money laundering and combating financing terror (AML/CFT) system largely remained unchanged — non-compliant on four counts, partially compliant on 25 counts and largely compliant on nine recommendations.
What is a Mutual Evaluation Report?
The APG Mutual Evaluations is a peer-review system to determine whether countries meet the compliance standards for money laundering and terror financing.
After a country submits a Mutual Evaluation report, APG members can decide to place a member either through regular or enhanced follow-up.
- A regular follow-up means just biennial reports.
- A country put under enhanced follow-up has to send four reports of compliance the following year.
Background:
FATF had placed Pakistan on its grey list in June 2018 and asked Islamabad to implement a plan of action to curb money laundering and terror financing by the end of 2019 but the deadline was extended later on due to COVID-19 pandemic.
About APG:
The Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) is a FATF style regional inter-governmental (international) body, the members of which are committed to implement international standards against money laundering (AML), the financing of terrorism (CTF) and financing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
- APG was founded in 1997 in Bangkok, Thailand, and currently consists of 41 member jurisdictions in the Asia-Pacific region and a number of observer jurisdictions and international/regional observer organisations.
- Jurisdictions that join the APG, either as members or as observers, commit to the Recommendations of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
InstaLinks:
Prelims Link:
- Black vs Grey list.
- Are FATF’s decisions binding on member countries?
- Who heads the FATF?
- Where is its secretariat?
- What is a Mutual Evaluation Report?
- What is the Asia Pacific Group on Money Laundering?
Mains Link:
What is the mandate and objectives of Financial Action Task Force? Discuss its importance for India – Pakistan relations.
Sources: the Hindu.
