Pakistan’s progress in anti-money laundering (AML) has been recognized by the latest update of the Basel AML Index briefing’s Expert Edition. According to the report, Pakistan’s overall financial regulation has improved, resulting in a slight decrease in the country’s risk score.
The country’s score on the Basel AML Index, a tool for assessing the risk of money laundering and terrorist financing, is now at 6.11, placing it in the medium-risk category compared to other global jurisdictions.
Pakistan has also made significant improvements in complying with the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) 40 recommendations. The country is now rated as “largely compliant” with most of the recommendations, with the exception of R15 (new technologies) and R38 (mutual legal assistance: freezing and confiscation), where it is only “partially compliant”.
In June 2018, the FATF placed Pakistan on its grey list, subjecting the country to increased monitoring. However, in October 2022, Pakistan was removed from the grey list after making significant progress in its AML/CFT regime. This is not the first time that Pakistan has been on the grey list; the country was previously placed on the list in 2012 and remained there until 2015.
Precisely, Pakistan’s progress in AML/CFT is a positive development for the country’s financial sector and its reputation on the global stage.
