File photo of Pakistan Senate
The Senate on Friday passed the National Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Financing of Terrorism Authority Bill, 2023, a day after the National Assembly had approved it, despite opposition from some senators over the undue haste of the government in legislating dozens of new laws.
State Minister for Foreign Affairs Hina Rabbani Khar tabled the bill in the Senate, explaining it was an “effort” by the government to continue the work done to ensure the country remained off the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF)’s grey-list. “This ensures the continuation of that work happens in an institutionalized manner,” she added.
Summarizing the FATF’s role, she said the G7 countries had created it in 1989 to counter money-laundering. Its mandate, she explained, had been expanded in 2001 to include countering terrorist financing. According to Khar, the U.N. Security Council recognized the FATF as a “global norms setter” with regard to anti-money laundering, terrorists financing and controlling proliferation.
“And we have seen how FATF’s role has increased over the years. And we have seen the effects of this too,” she said, stressing monitoring money-laundering and terror financing could not be confined to one area. This bill, she explained, sought to set up an authority under a chairman appointed by the prime minister to replace NACTA and the financial monitoring unit set up under the Ministry of Finance.
The new authority, she claimed, would ensure a “one-window” setup for all the work happening within the Government of Pakistan and the provinces to allow for ease of monitoring progress. “If there are any loopholes, we can correct them and stop them before we run into serious problems,” she said, and urged the Upper House to pass the bill as “quickly as possible.”
Senator Yousaf Raza Gilani of the PPP also took the floor, stressing this was an “important” issue that impacted the entire country. Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, likewise, said this was a matter of “national interest,” as it fulfilled the commitments the state had made to exit the FATF grey list. “We should take care; we never leave politics out of anything,” he said.
Also addressing the House, Finance Minister Ishaq Dar acknowledged this was a “sensitive” issue with a long history. “I dealt with this issue. In 2013, Pakistan was virtually on the black list,” he said, adding “many actions” were taken to become “virtually grey” in 2014 before the country finally exited it in 2015. “Now, our job is to never let Pakistan come back into the grey list,” he said, stressing this could not be left to the next government because it could harm the country if it were delayed.
The bill eventually passed with 28 senators voting in its favor, and nine members opposing it. Several senators of the ruling coalition abstained from voting in protest over the “bulldozing” of legislation by the government. The Senate also passed the Import Export Control Act Amendment Bill, the Trademark Amendment Bill, the Hajj and Umrah Regulatory Bill, and the Ruet-i-Hilal Bill.
The bill
According to the draft of the bill, the proposed authority would be led by a chairman appointed by the prime minister and include the federal secretaries of finance, foreign affairs and interior, as well as the State Bank of Pakistan governor and chairpersons of the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan; National Accountability Bureau, and Federal Board of Revenue. Additionally, directors general of the Federal Investigation Agency, Anti-Narcotics Force and Financial Monitoring Unit; national coordinator of the National Counter Terrorism Authority; and chief secretaries of all four provinces, Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan would also be included.
The new legislation allows the proposed authority to convene meetings on the requisition of the chairman or half its members. It also calls for bringing NACTA and the Finance Ministry’s Financial Monitoring Unit under the umbrella of the authority.
According to the objectives of the bill, Pakistan is required to cooperate with international organizations “for anti-money laundering, countering financing of terrorism and targeted financial sanctions by way of promulgating requisite legal and regulatory framework.” It noted that there was a need to set up a focal institution to unify state response “by planning, combining, coordinating and implementing government policy through an exhaustive strategic planning and necessary ancillary mechanism.”