All eyes on FATF final briefing: Decision on Pakistan's status on terror financing list expected

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The concluding session of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on February 21 held utmost importance for India.

After the Pulwama terror attack, India has reportedly made a strong case in front of the FATF against Pakistan’s non-compliance in curbing terror funding and pressed the watchdog to keep its neighbouring nation on a terrorism financing watch list.

The Paris-headquartered FATF is a global body created to counter terrorism financing and money laundering.

Over 800 officials from global multilateral bodies, including the IMF and World Bank, are in Paris for the six-day FATF gathering.

Pakistan is currently placed on the FATF'S 'grey list' of nations with inadequate controls over such activities. It was given a deadline of September 2019 to implement the conditions set by the FATF, failing which it will fall into the ‘black list’.

However, India has now provided “new information” to the watchdog relating to Pakistan after the February 14 dastardly attack in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district in which 40 jawans were killed, reported Reuters quoting Indian government officials.

The banned Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) claimed responsibility for the attack. The details of the militant group’s operation has been provided to the FATF, said another Indian official to the news agency.

The result is expected to be announced during the FATF president’s briefing on the outcome of the plenary.

“We will publish the outcome from the meeting, including our updated statements identifying high-risk and other monitored jurisdictions, at the end of the meeting, on Friday afternoon,” Alexandra Wijmenga-Daniel, FATF communications management advisor, quoted as communicating through an email.