Swiss team raises money laundering issue

ISLAMABAD: A three-member Swiss delegation led by the Chairman of the Swiss Basel Institute on Governance, Prof Dr Mark Pieth, called on the Adviser to the prime minister on Finance, Revenue, Economic Affairs and Statistics, Dr Salman Shah, on Tuesday to discuss ways to curb the menace of money laundering.

The Swiss delegation is on a fact-finding mission in Pakistan to formulate recommendations to enable the Swiss government to evolve an international system to combat money laundering.

According to an official statement, Dr Salman Shah informed the Swiss delegation about the legal and institutional steps taken by the government of Pakistan to combat money laundering. Referring to the geographical location of Pakistan, the adviser said Pakistan had invested a lot of resources to control the flow of illegal funds and drugs from neighboring countries. He added that technical and financial assistance from the Swiss and the international community was needed to combat this menace.

Pakistan has finalised an anti-money laundering law with the help of eminent jurists and parliamentarians. The law has been submitted to the cabinet and he added that it would be sent to the parliament for legislation after it was approved by the cabinet. The State Bank of Pakistan has set up a financial intelligence unit to monitor and locate the source and transaction of foreign remittances to Pakistan. Referring to the remittances by overseas Pakistanis through the “hawala” system, Dr Shah pointed out that most of the operators are now routing their money through banks instead of “hawala”. We have improved our system considerably. Pakistan has a very efficient banking system with a long history; therefore it would be unfair if the international community put Pakistan on any watch list. We are ready to follow the international common standard and best practices to combat money laundering which are suitable for our environment.

The adviser also asked the Swiss delegation to arrange a seminar in Pakistan during which the experience of the Swiss banking system could be shared with the Pakistani financial industry and an in-depth discussion could be held to discuss the best code and practices. staff report

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