By Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD: The European Union has removed Pakistan from its ‘list of high-risk third countries’, a move welcomed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as a major development that would facilitate the country’s businesses.
“De-listing of Pakistan from EU’s updated list of high-risk third-countries is a major development which would facilitate our businesses, individuals and entities,” PM Sharif tweeted. “It is a reflection of the government’s unwavering resolve to further strengthen the Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) regime.”
The Ministry of Commerce said the listing of Pakistan in 2018 had resulted in creating a regulatory burden affecting Pakistani companies doing business with the 27-member bloc.
““The new development would add to the comfort level of the European economic operators and is likely to ease the cost and time of legal and financial transactions by Pakistani entities and individuals in EU,” the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said the EU member states’ “Obligated Entities” will no longer be required to apply “Enhanced Customer Due Diligence” while conducting transactions with individuals and legal entities established in Pakistan.
Foreign Minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari said in a Twitter post that Pakistani businesses and individuals “would no longer be subjected to Enhanced Customer Due Diligence” by European legal and economic operators.
The high-risk third countries list includes nations that, according to the EU, do not have a robust enough regulatory and legal system to prevent financial crimes and “terrorism” financing that could pose significant threats to the financial system of the bloc.
When a country is added to the list, it is subjected to particularly enhanced scrutiny and additional measures that increase the cost of doing business.
The Pakistani entities that will no longer be subjected to enhanced EU scrutiny include credit and financial institutions, auditors, external accountants, tax advisers, notaries and independent legal professionals, among others.
Pakistan’s delegation in the EU called the removal from the list a “positive step”.
“In line with last year’s FATF decision, the EU has decided to remove Pakistan from its list of countries with high risk regarding money laundering & financing of terrorism,” it tweeted, referring to the decision by the global money laundering and financing watchdog, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), to remove Pakistan from its list of countries under “increased monitoring” after four years.
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