Sherry Rehman (not pictured) said Bilawal Bhutto, Pak foreign minister, should be commended for engineering Pak’s exit from EU High Risk Third Countries list (Image: Reuters)
A Pakistan cabinet minister said the foreign minister helped the country to exit the list
The European Commission announced that Pakistan has been removed from the High Risk Third Countries list. The list comprises nations that pose threats to the European Union’s financial system and have strategic deficiencies in their tackling of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CFT).
Pakistan was added to the EU List of high-risk third countries in 2018. The current list includes countries
Pakistan’s commerce ministry remains hopeful that following its exit from the list it will decrease the cost and time of legal and financial transactions by Pakistani entities and individuals in the EU while assuaging concerns of European economic operators.
This also means that ‘obligated entities’ will not have to carry out ‘Enhanced Customer Due Diligence’ while conducting transactions with individuals and legal entities established in Pakistan, Dawn reported.
These countries continue to remain in the High Risk Third Countries list (year they were added to the list in brackets):
- Afghanistan, DPRK, Iran, Syria, Uganda, Vanuatu, Yemen (2016), Trinidad and Tobago (2018); Barbados, Cambodia, Jamaica, Myanmar, Panama (2020); Burkina Faso, Cayman Islands, Haiti, Jordan, Mali, Morocco, Philippines, Senegal, South Sudan (2022); DR Congo, Gibraltar, Mozambique, Tanzania, United Arab Emirates (2023)
Credit institutions, financial institutions, auditors, external accountants, tax advisors, notaries, independent legal professionals, estate agents and individuals trading in goods are obligated entities.
The announcement that Pakistani businesses and individuals will not be facing ‘Enhanced Customer Due Diligence’ was made by the country’s commerce minister Syed Naveed Qamar on Twitter.
Sherry Rehman, cabinet minister for climate change, said foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari deserves the credit for ensuring Pakistan’s removal from the list.
“After this important development, exporters and traders will not face hurdles. The credit for this diplomatic success goes to Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto Zardari,” Sherry was quoted as saying by Dawn.
Pakistan was added to the list in 2018 because the European Union felt Islamabad’s legal and regulatory systems were weak and failed to prevent financial crime and terrorist financing.
It should be noted that Pakistan was removed from FATF’s Jurisdictions under Increased Monitoring aka “grey list” in October 2022.
Whether these moves made by the EU and the FATF will end terror financing remains to be seen because Pakistan directly or indirectly funds terrorists who threaten peace and stability in the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and along the border areas of Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat.
The EU earlier identified that Pakistan had strategic deficiencies in their national AML/CFT regimes and posed significant threat to their financial system and applied additional measures to financial transactions involving the country.
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