NA panel hints at rejecting AML amendment bill

Committee’s response comes as government fails to satisfy concerns of legislators

ISLAMABAD: The treasury-controlled National Assembly Standing Committee on Finance on Tuesday warned to shoot down Anti Money Laundering (AML) amendment bill after the government failed to satisfy legislators over the need to give powers to arrest people without warrants from courts.

The standing committee members also showed their ‘disappointment’ over the newly-appointed State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) Governor Dr Reza Baqir’s refusal to divulge details of the $6-billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) programme even in an in-camera session.

Headed by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Asad Umar, the standing committee held two sessions, the second one behind closed doors, which the members of the committee termed “disappointing”. The briefing on the IMF programme had been kept in-camera on the request of the finance ministry aimed at keeping these details secret from the public.

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Even after the in-camera session, the journalists know more than the parliamentarians due to the finance ministry and SBP governor’s refusal to share details, said a member of the committee, while speaking on condition of anonymity.

Dr Baqir refused to provide details about total foreign currency needs in the next fiscal year, the performance criteria agreed with the IMF in return of loan, the quantum of budgetary support and exchange rate regime under the IMF deal, at least three members of the committee confirmed to The Express Tribune.

Finance Secretary Naveed Kamran Baloch promised to provide these details after July 3, when the IMF will approve the loan. Upon this, a member commented that they would get this information too through the media. The members said that the governor gave basic lecture on the economy but did not share the economic framework with the parliamentarians. The standing committee chairman directed the finance ministry to provide details about the appointment of SBP governor after some members had questioned bringing Dr Baqir in the midst of talks with the IMF.

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Anti-Money Laundering bill

The committee once again expressed apprehensions over draconian powers that the government wanted to get by amending the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2010. The committee chairman deferred a vote on the Anti-Money Laundering (amendment) Bill 2019. The government has moved the bill to address legal deficiencies pointed out by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).

According to the amendment to section 16 of the AML act, the investigation officer may arrest a person without seeking warrants from the court or the nearest judicial magistrate, if he has a reason to believe that such person is guilty of money laundering.

Currently, money laundering is a non-cognisable offence but the government wants to make it a cognisable offence. At present, the investigation officer cannot arrest anybody until he gets his warrants from the court or a judicial magistrate.

According to the proposals under discussion at the National Assembly panel, instead of Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU), any investigating or prosecuting agency can declare it a cognisable offence and arrest the person.

There are no restrictions in the proposed draft that may stop the investigation officers from misusing these powers and such vast powers cannot be given to officers, said Faizullah, the member of the committee belonging to the ruling party.

Additional secretary finance Sohail Rajput was of the view that it takes time to seek court’s permission. But his answer could not satisfy the members.

Special Secretary Finance Umar Hameed proposed that the members should recommend amendments, if they were not satisfied with the government bill.

“It is the government’s job to propose amendment to the satisfaction of the committee, otherwise the members will shoot down the bill in the next meeting,” warned Umar. The committee will not pass the bills until the government addresses its concerns, he added.

According to another important amendment, the FMU will be bound to promptly share information on money laundering with foreign jurisdictions, instead of waiting for “due administrative process”. Similarly, the banks will be bound to share suspicious transactions report with the FMU “promptly” instead of the existing limit of within seven days.

The government has also proposed to empower the investigation officers to attach property involved in money laundering for six months as against the current period of three months. It is proposed that the courts could grant further extension in the attachment period to up to one year.

According to the proposals, the banks would also be bound to file the suspicious transactions report and on failing to do so, the persons concerned will be liable to five years of imprisonment and a fine of Rs500,000.

It will also be mandatory to keep the record of suspicious transactions for 10 years, which is double the current period.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 19^th, 2019.

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