FINANCIAL ACTION TASK FORCE (FATF) & PAKISTAN’S GREY LIST ISSUE
The Financial Action Task Force
(FATF) is an intra-governmental organization that was founded after the
initiative of the Group of Seven countries G-7, back in 1989, for combating money laundering in the world. Basically, FATF is a “Policy-Making Body” that
mainly regulates finance-related reforms to stop money laundering at the world
level.
In 2001, FATF’s role was
extended against financing terrorist organizations, particularly after the
so-called incident of 11th September 2001 attacks on the World Trade
Centre in New York America. Later on, FATF emerged as one of the most powerful and
influential organizations in the world, particularly in the context of managing
and regulating the economies of different countries including Iran &
Afghanistan.
Initially, FATF had a total of 16 member countries but today, it has 39 permanent member countries including USA & China. FATF’s secretariat is located at the OECD Headquarters in Paris, France. These 39 member countries having powerful economies, regulate, legislate and sanction the economic movement of different countries including Pakistan by putting them either on Grey List (previously called the monitored jurisdiction) or on Black List (formally called the call for action).
Through this blog article,
we shall have a deep look at the role and motive of FATF keeping in view its
two core mandates which are to combat money laundering and to fight
against terrorism or terror funding organizations and countries. On the basis
of factual analysis, we shall also draw our conclusion on the actual role, aims, and objectives of FATF including highlighting
Pakistan’s Grey List Issue.
Overview:
According to the UN convention
of 1988, which had taken place in Vienna (Austria), money laundering is a high offense and a severe crime, hence it was decided in the convention that in the future serious legal action will be taken against money laundering.
Similarly, as per UN’s
estimates, some 2% to 5% of the world’s total GDP, or around US $ 800 billion to
$ 2 trillion are being laundered on a yearly basis which is not a good sign
for the world economy by any means. Interestingly, all the money which is being
laundered is going inside different banks in European countries including one
of the famous banks called as Swiss Bank.
Before discussing this further, let us understand what is money laundering and how it is being laundered? Money laundering, in broader terms, is an act of gaining money in an illegal way or an unlawful means or even by corruption and not paying taxes properly. Later on, that particular money that is gained illegally, is transferred secretly at its destination (safe haven country) and invested there into a number of businesses or even kept inside banks.
Most political leaders of different countries of the world including businessmen, bureaucrats, judges, military generals, media personnel, etc. have been found involved in money laundering.
Panama Leaks & Pandora Paper
Leaks are living examples of such heavy money laundering issues at the world level. Similarly, as far as, the question of how money
laundering is being done is concerned, it is actually a complex process
that is done through three different stages, which are explained in detail as
under.
1. Placement:
At
this stage, black money is shifted from one country to another country without using
proper banking channels for the transfer of money.
2. Layering: In
this stage, money is being distinguished to foil and pursue through
agents or so-called business partners.
3. Integration:
This
is the last stage in which black money is converted into white money and then
usually brought back or utilized for specific purposes including so-called funding to
terrorist organizations.
The process of money laundering especially in such countries where money is being laundered has never been stopped nor restricted even after having full information about it. This is itself a big question mark for FATF member countries alongside FATF's political role which is why FATF is considered a failed and useless body to take strict & legal actions including imposing sanctions on such countries where money is being laundered for ages.
Such negligence by FATF looks very dubious and suspicious rather more of political and economic control over specific & targeted countries such as
Iran, Pakistan, North Korea, Turkey & Afghanistan.
On the other hand, if we look back to history, we find that Western countries including the USA have been looting the resources of other countries through illegal invasions including supporting and backing up the corrupt ruling elites as well as controlling the economies of such countries through IMF & World Bank.
Even
UNO looks powerless to control and manage the money laundering issue including
taking actions against such countries which are playing the role of safe havens
for money launderers.
On the other hand, it is a well-known fact that capitalists are controlling the global economy and hence world’s poverty and hunger index are growing at a very rapid and alarming pace. More of a concern for us is this the world has never seen poverty and hunger as even more dangerous than terrorism.
Oppression in terms of low wages to workers and abrogation of the rights of laborers must at least be considered as dangerous as terrorism. In this context, Geoffrey Chaucer rightly said that “money is the root cause of all the evils” which eventually leads to poverty and creates anarchy and hence leads to terrorism and unrest in the world.
When people are deprived and their fundamental rights are denied at a global level by some groups of ruling elites and capitalists, it brings terror into the lives of millions of people across the globe but unfortunately, poverty & hunger have constantly been ignored and overlooked at world level by the ruling elites and powerful capitalists who are actually constantly depriving the billions of people.
On the other hand, I believe that FATF opens the doors for IMF to enter inside a targeted country to further weaken its economy, creating anarchy there and hence providing an opportunity for the USA and the west to control the reins of that particular targeted country.
Pakistan’s
Grey List Issue:
Over the past 12 years or so, i.e. since 2008, Pakistan has been falling into FATF’s Grey List three times on different occasions. In recent times, Pakistan went on the Grey list back in June 2016 and is still there even after taking hectic efforts of coming out of it to improve its economy.
This reflects that Pakistan
has intentionally been put on Grey List in order to pressurize & weaken Pakistan.
Indian Home Ministers' press conference and clear-cut acceptance that India doesn’t
want Pakistan to come out of the grey list, itself is evidence in this regard.
Similarly, for a moment if we take a look at the main causes of Pakistan’s falling into the Grey List from two different perspectives i.e. money laundering and terror financing, we come across very interesting findings. First of all, Pakistan has been greatly suffering due to supporting and allying USA’s war on terror in Afghanistan by losing 80 thousand innocent citizens including a loss of $150 billion of its economy in the past 20 years.
RAW, MOSSAD & CIA has been
found behind all this tragic drama. Secondly, all the ruling elites,
businessmen, generals, bureaucrats, and politicians who have been remaining
involved in money laundering have kept their black money mostly inside banks in
Western countries including the USA and the United Arab Emirates. Not only that but all
the money launderers are being protected and covered up by the powerful Western
countries along with KSA, UAE & USA.
On
the other side, certain organizations which are now so-called terrorist and
banned organizations in Pakistan used to be freedom fighters for the USA during
the USSR’s invasion of Afghanistan. It was the USA herself who not only provided
them weapons but millions of dollars to such groups for fighting against the Soviet
Union. Now all of a sudden they have become terrorist organizations because
they all are of no use to the USA.
Another
important fact regarding keeping Pakistan on Grey List is American vested
interests inside Afghanistan. The USA is trying to pressurise Pakistan to give them
aerial access to attack the soil of Afghanistan. Such attacks will surely
create new problems and unrest situation in the region which is why the US military
has intentionally left huge weapons inside Afghanistan during their complete
departure back in August 2021.
Conclusion:
In a nutshell for me, FATF is not for stopping money laundering nor for combating terrorism rather it is for gaining some political, economic, and power-related motives. If FATF is really for stopping money laundering then money laundering safe haven countries must have been on the Black & Grey List.
Similarly, Israel’s terrorism against the innocent people of occupied Palestine
as well as India’s state terrorism against the innocent people of occupied Kashmir
including minorities could have been stopped quite a long ago.
We
all know that from Collin Powell (former state secretary for the USA) to Tony Blair
(former Prime-minister for the UK) all have been openly committing that plot which
developed for the invasion of Iraq in 2003, was fabricated and engineered by President
Bush which evenly caused the loss of millions of innocent lives inside Iraq as
a result of UNO’s sponsored terrorism but no any legal action has been taken
against the USA and its allies countries by FATF as well as UNO.
Therefore such double standards and nepotism by FATF will never end however such double yoking is very much dangerous in the larger interests of humanity, equality, inclusiveness, and for those who dream to see the planet earth as a happy, peaceful, and prosperous place to live on.
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