The FATF statement comes in the backdrop of Indian authorities highlighting Pakistan's persistent support for terrorism and its funnelling of multilateral funds for arms procurement.
Re-entry into the list could have far-reaching consequences for Pakistan, including diminished foreign investment, increased borrowing costs, and tighter scrutiny from global financial institutions.
India will argue for Pakistan's return to the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list due to its alleged failure to combat money laundering and terror financing. The move comes after recent tensions between the two countries following a terror attack in Pahalgam, India. India believes Pakistan has not adequately addressed the issue of terrorism emanating from its territory and has diverted funds from multilateral agencies towards arms purchases.
Dream11, Baazi Games, Zupee and WinZO among others are invited for the discussion with the anti-money laundering watchdog.
Earlier in the day, an IndiGo A320 passenger aircraft landed successfully at 1.32 pm at runway 08/26 of the under-construction Navi Mumbai International Airport, paving the way for the Navi Mumbai International Airport Ltd (NMIAL) to seek an aerodrome licence from the aviation safety regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to start commercial flight services.
SpaceX launched a reduced two-man crew to the International Space Station on Saturday, carrying supplies and two empty seats for Starliner astronauts awaiting a return home in February after an unplanned eight-and-a-half-month stay in orbit, CBS News reported.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has updated Know Your Customer (KYC) norms for politically exposed persons (PEPs) who transact with regulated entities (REs), seeking to comply with the recommendations of intergovernmental organisation Financial Action Task Force (FATF). PEPs are individuals entrusted with prominent public functions by a foreign country, including the heads of states/governments, senior politicians, senior government or judicial or military officers, senior executives of state-owned corporations and important political party officials, said the RBI. This change is expected to provide more clarity to undertake Customer Due Diligence (CDD), said the RBI in a communication to REs.
Pakistan has been on the grey list of the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force since June 2018 for failing to check money laundering, leading to terror financing, and was given a plan of action to complete it by October 2019.
The world should remain clear that Pakistan must continue to take 'credible, verifiable and irreversible' action against terrorism, India said after anti-money laundering watchdog Financial Action Task Force (FATF) removed the neighbouring country from its 'grey list'.
Significantly, for the first time, the FATF put Myanmar in the "high risk jurisdictions subject to a call for action", often referred to as the watchdog's black list.
Pakistan will remain on the 'grey list' of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) until it further demonstrates that action is being taken against Jamaat-ud-Dawah chief Hafiz Saeed and Jaish-e-Mohammed founder Masood Azhar who are listed as global terrorists by the United Nations, the global anti-money laundering and terror financing watchdog said on Thursday.
Making a strong case for banning cryptocurrencies, Reserve Bank Deputy Governor T Rabi Sankar on Monday said they are even worse than ponzi schemes and threaten the financial sovereignty of a country. Observing that crypto-technology is underpinned by a philosophy to evade government controls, he said they have been specifically developed to bypass the regulated financial system. More substantially, he added, cryptocurrencies can wreck the currency system, monetary authority, banking system, and in general the government's ability to control the economy.
The country was, in February, put on the list of jurisdictions that require increased monitoring. These are done to counter money-laundering, terrorist financing, and proliferation financing in a more efficient manner.
Market observers also said the approvals depended a lot on the funds themselves, and the extent to which they followed the new norms introduced last year.
Pakistan has improved its full compliance on only two of the 40 FATF recommendations, the APG report noted.
The Enforcement Directorate on Friday said it has issued a show cause notice to the country's largest cryptocurrency exchange for undertaking transactions worth over Rs 2,790 crore in alleged violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA). WazirX, registered under the company named Zanmai Labs Pvt Ltd, was incorporated in December, 2017 as a domestic cryptocurrency start-up and its directors Nischal Shetty and Hanuman Mhatre, along with the company, have been named in the notice issued by the central probe agency after completion of investigation. The agency issued a statement saying that it stumbled upon the transactions of the company during an ongoing money laundering probe into the "Chinese-owned" illegal online betting applications.
"We call on Pakistan to stop cleansing their own minorities including Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and others," Bhat said.
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on Friday retained Pakistan on its 'grey list' for failing to check money laundering, leading to terror financing, and asked Islamabad to investigate and prosecute senior leaders and commanders of United Nations-designated terror groups, including Hafiz Saeed and Masood Azhar.
In a major boost to measures being taken by India against money laundering and terror financing activities, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on Wednesday said the country has substantially addressed the deficiencies in its regulatory framework and has become largely compliant with global standards in this regard.
The Paris-headquartered FATF said Pakistan should continue to work on implementing its action plan to address its strategic deficiencies
The FATF "strongly" urges Pakistan to swiftly complete its action plan when the last set of action plan items are set to expire.
The International Monetary Fund will launch a donor-supported fund to combat money laundering and terror fund, a growing menace in the financial world.
The conviction levels are still low.
The US State Department, in its Congressional mandated annual Country Reports on Terrorism for the year 2018, on Friday said even though the Pakistani government voiced support for political reconciliation between the Afghan government and the Taliban, it did not restrict the terror group and the Haqqani Network from operating in Pakistan-based safe havens and threatening the US and Afghan forces in Afghanistan.
India's stand at the FATF plenary and other related discussions have always been consistent regarding Pakistan.
The APG released its much-awaited 228-page 'Mutual Evaluation Report' on Saturday, 10 days ahead of the key Financial Action Task Force's plenary meeting which will give its decision on Pakistan's 'grey list' status.
India handed over a dossier to Pakistan to take action against the JeM, as pressure mounted on Islamabad to take action against individual and organisation listed by the UN Security Council as terrorists.
With this, multilateral lenders like the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the European Union may continue downgrading Pakistan, making its financial situation more precarious.
The FATF continuing Pakistan in the 'Grey' list means its downgrading by IMF, World Bank, ADB, EU and also a reduction in risk rating by Moody's, S&P and Fitch.
According to Pakistan's National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) list, which was updated on Tuesday, JuD and FIF were among 70 organisations proscribed by the ministry of Interior under the Anti-Terrorism Act 1997.
The top three industries in India susceptible to economic crimes are financial services, manufacturing and professional services
Central bank raises red flag, warns of potential risk
While RBI is yet to come out with a clear regulatory framework for bitcoins, which have been gaining currency across the world over the past few months, it has issued an advisory cautioning general public against use of bitcoins and other virtual currencies.