KARACHI: The Securi­ties and Exchange Com­mission of Pakistan (SECP) has so far rounded up around 650 active non-profit organisations (NPO) under an anti-money laundering (AML) and counter terror financing (CTF) drive.

This was stated by SECP’s Additional Registrar Waseem Ahmad Khan at a seminar organised by Karachi Tax Bar Association (KTBA) here on Wednesday.

Most of the charitable donations in Pakistan are routed informally that render the exercise prone to terror financing and money laundering, he said.

Khan said that under Financial Action Task Force (FATF) mandate, SECP and State Bank of Pakistan have assumed greater responsibility in combating money laundering and terror financing.

FATF, being a global body with associate and observer members, is mandated to combat money laundering and terror financing and Pakistan has international obligation to comply with its mandate, he added.

He informed that to tackle issues related to AML and CTF, Pakistan has already promulgated laws like Anti-Terrorist Act 1997, Anti Money Laundering Act 2010, National Counter Terrorism Act 2013 and also devised National Action Plan.

He further disclosed that SECP is undertaking enhanced due diligence on the basis of territorial, geo-political along with scrotal lines for channelisation of donations.

The SECP additional registrar suggested that every NPO should adopt risk management techniques and also take due diligence of donors and train employees so that proper procedures are followed to check misuse of funds collected on account of donations.

The NPOs should also do the profiling of donors and set promoters along with details of ultimate beneficiaries, Khan said.

Published in Dawn, March 21st, 2019