ISLAMABAD: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) conducted a session on Friday to brief representatives of NGOs (non-governmental organisations) about the country’s international obligations and the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) recommendations and to create awareness about the government’s measures for anti-money laundering/counterterrorism financing (AML/CFT).

The session, conducted in Lahore in collaboration with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Pakistan (ICAP), was attended by around 100 representatives of the NGOs licensed under Section 42 of the Companies Act, 2017, as well as the Lahore-based registered intermediaries.

In a detailed presentation, officials of the SECP highlighted the regulatory requirements related to AML/CFT as well as the mechanism for implementation of the United Nations Sanctions Regime under resolutions 1267 and 1373 for designation of terrorist organisations and individuals.

The session focused on the relevant recommendations of the FATF as well as findings of the National Terrorism Financing Risk Assessment, including directions, channels and sources of terror finance, risk assessment of NGOs, various policies and legislative and administrative measures for terror financing risk mitigation.

It helped participants in improving their understanding of suspicious transaction reporting requirements under the AML/CFT framework.

The session also discussed the regulatory measures contained in the regulations for NGOs and intermediaries to prevent money laundering and terror financing abuses, supplemented by the best practices and recommendations contained in the AML/CFT guidelines for NGOs issued by it.

The officials emphasised the fact that the regulatory action against non-compliant NGOs was a regular feature of the SECP’s enforcement strategy, which would continue in future.

Published in Dawn, March 30th, 2019