ISLAMABAD – As the government prepares to take action against black money in the real estate industry, Pakistan must abide by the requirements set forth by the Asia Pacific Group (APG), a regional affiliate of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
According to reports, an authority would be created with the help of federal organisations.
The rumoured “Real Estate Regulatory Authority” will be responsible for making sure that no land or property transfers are conducted in the name of any terrorist organisation or other prohibited group.
The authority will demand an obligatory registration from businessmen active in the field as well as important business data.
The construction of the regulatory body in compliance with FATF criteria has already been started, thanks to the Security and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP).
The SECP’s technical and legal divisions are collaborating to finalise the fundamental structure.
The body will oversee a number of industry-related issues, although taxation has not yet been included in its purview.
Pakistan hopes to adhere to the 40 recommendations of the APG in order to get off the FATF’s “grey list” thanks to the tremendous progress made by the current administration in combating money laundering and the funding of terrorism.
The probable development was announced one week before the FATF review meeting in Paris (Oct. 13–18), which would decide Pakistan’s status.
The third Mutual Evaluation Report (MER) on Pakistan, which was adopted at the 41-member APG meetings in Canberra, Australia, relegated Pakistan to the “Enhanced Follow-up” category due to its inability to satisfy international financial status by October 2018.
As a consequence, Pakistan faces increased scrutiny and has been required to submit quarterly progress reports, instead of biannual, to the APG to show improvements in its technical standards on Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism starting February 1, 2020.