The European Commission has come out with a list of countries, most of them Islamic Nations where there is a high possibility of ‘dirty-money’ The EU list includes Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and other 17 countries.
Pakistan or Israel – Who is Behind the Killing of 27 Iranian Border Guards?
The statement released by the European Union emphasised saying, “The aim of this list is to protect the EU financial system by preventing money laundering and terrorist financing risks.”
The banks and other entities covered by the European Union anti-money laundering rules will be required to track the financial operations from the so-called “high-risk” countries to better identify any suspicious flow of money.
Věra Jourová, commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, said: “We have established the strongest anti-money laundering standards in the world, but we have to make sure that dirty money from other countries does not find its way to our financial system.”
“Dirty money is the lifeblood of organised crime and terrorism. I invite the countries listed to remedy their deficiencies swiftly,” Jourová added.
The list will be sent to the European Parliament and Council for approval. Once approved, the delegated regulation will be published in the official journal and will enter into force 20 days after its publication.
In June 2017, Pakistan was added to the Financial Action Task Force’s grey list because of deficiencies in the country’s anti-money laundering (AML) and countering of terrorist financing (CTF) regulations.
Last year, the Financial Action Task Force commission visited Pakistan for two weeks to evaluate the country’s progress on countering money laundering and financing of terrorism. The FATF gave the government an action plan to exit from the greylist. Later in December, Pakistan prepared a Terrorism Financing Risk Assessment report, which includes primary sources of terrorism financing like drug trafficking, kidnapping for ransom, external funding, extortion, and robberies.
Pakistan informed FATF that it has frozen the bank accounts and assets of banned outfits. Pakistani officials told the APG that they have suspended the accounts and assets of the Jamaatud Dawa and its welfare wing the Falah-e-Insaniat Foundation. According to the official statement, Other banned outfits whose assets were confiscated include the Da’ish, Taliban, Al-Qaeda, Lashkar-e-Taiba, Jaish-e-Mohammad and Haqqani Network.
More News at EurAsian Times
- Indian Military Base in Sabang can Strangle China at the Strait of Malacca
- Why is Japan Unhappy with Bullet Train Project in India?
- Is Saudi-UAE Alliance Working to Weaken the Gulf Cooperation Council?
- India-Japan Defence Partnership Aggressively Countering China
- Oman-UAE Relations Deteriorate; Muscat Warns Against Testing Patience
