COAS lauds army’s role

Gen Qamar says GHQ’s cell along with civilian govt made it possible to comply with AML and CFT plans

ISLAMABAD:

Pakistan Army played a vital role along with the government and other national institutions to complete the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) action plans, paving the way for removal from global financial watchdog’s grey list, the military chief said on Friday.

Completion of FATF AML /CFT action plans by Pak is a great achievement. A monumental effort paving way 4 whitelisting. “Core cell @ GHQ which steered the national effort & civil - military team which synergised implementation of action plan made it possible, making Pak proud”COAS

— DG ISPR (@OfficialDGISPR) June 17, 2022

DG ISPR Major General Babar Iftikhar, in a Twitter post, said completion of FATF’s Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter Terror Financing (CFT) action plans by Pakistan is a great achievement and a monumental effort paving way for whitelisting.

“Core cell at GHQ [General Headquarters] which steered the national effort & civil-military team which synergised implementation of action plan made it possible, making Pak proud,” he quoted Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa as saying.

Also read: FATF ‘kick-starts’ process to remove Pakistan from grey list

The special cell at the GHQ headed by the DG military operations was established in 2019 on the orders of the COAS after consultation with the then government.

When the military cell took over the responsibility, only five items of the FATF points were completed.

This cell established comprehensive mechanism between more than 30 departments, ministries and agencies to ensure implementation of these policies.

The GHQ cell formulated a comprehensive strategy and a detailed roadmap to address the concerns of FATF and completed its action plan, well before the timelines set by the global watchdog.

The GHQ cell has strengthened its AML and CFT regime to counter vulnerabilities and threat as envisaged during the National Risk Assessment.

Also read: Imran Khan credits Hammad Azhar, his team for ‘successful FATF compliance’

The army’s cell demonstrated significant increase in ML investigations and prosecutions during the last 13 months and reported more than 800 cases of money laundering.

The cell demonstrated substantial increases in the number and value of assets seized over this reporting cycle, with 71% increase in number of assets and 85% increase in value of assets seized.