The National Assembly on Wednesday approved amendments to an anti-money laundering law to make it more effective in targeting the financing of extremists and bring it into line with global standards, officials said Thursday.
The amendments were unanimously approved two weeks after the Senate passed them, parliamentary officials said.
The amendments will boost the law to “deal effectively with terrorism financing”, a senior finance ministry official told AFP, adding that they “reflect the government’s firm resolve to strengthen its anti-money laundering regime”.
The law now complies with international standards outlined by the global Financial Action Task Force (Fatf), the official added.
Fatf is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 to set standards and promote effective implementation of measures for combating money laundering, financing for extremists, and other threats related to the integrity of the international financial system.
In June, State Bank of Pakistan issued regulations for banks and financial institutions to fight money laundering and financing for extremists, and the finance ministry official said the latest amendments also bring the law further in line with those guidelines.
The move comes in line with ongoing National Action Plan (NAP) which was launched by the government in the wake of the deadly attack on Peshawar’s Army Public School last year to eliminate the scourge of terrorism from the country.
Choking off terror financing is a key objective of NAP and the military asked the government to put in place measures necessary to stop money falling into the hands of terrorists earlier in September.
Army Chief Gen Raheel Sharif had, during his Defence Day address, said: “We shall not relent until all terrorists; their financiers, abettors, facilitators and sympathisers are brought to justice.”
