FATF Pushes Pakistan To Ban Bitcoin, Urges G7 to Enact Stricter Financial Surveillance

• "Pakistan will ban cryptocurrency services operating in the country and never legalize crypto trading, Minister of State for Finance and Revenue Aisha Ghaus Pasha said at a session of the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue on May 16."
• "Pasha said banning crypto was one of the requirements set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which removed Pakistan from its gray list in October."
• "The gray list contains countries the body considers deficient in Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing measures but that are working with it to remedy their shortcomings."
• Cryptocurrencies have been gaining increasing popularity in Pakistan with the annual trading volume going up to $25 billion, up from approx. $18-$20 billion a year ago.
• Banks in Pakistan have already started informing customers that cryptocurrency trading is illegal, at least two sources told CoinDesk.
• This attempted ban comes at a time of political turmoil for Pakistan, while "the Pakistani rupee's value has fallen a "staggering" 57.4% against the dollar over the past year."

FAFT continues to pressure countries

• Meanwhile. FATF's President T. Raja Kumar, urged G-7 leaders to "effectively" implement FATF's crypto anti-money laundering norms ahead of their meeting this weekend.

"Around the globe, countries have made progress in implementing most of the standards; however, progress on implementing FATF’s updated requirements on crypto assets has been relatively poor," Kumar said.

• According to Kumar, 73% of countries are still "non-compliant or only partially compliant" with the watchdog's standards.

"G-7 countries taking the lead in "fully and effectively implementing FATF’s global standards is crucial to our collective success," Kumar said."

• FATF's controversial "travel rule" requires crypto service providers to collect and share information on transactions above a certain threshold.
• FATF is an unelected international organization based in Paris, France, established with a purpose is to propose KYC/AML surveillance policies and pressure countries into adopting them. Its proposals involve trusted intermediaries and are incompatible with basic security practices of the digital age.
• FATF itself cannot impose sanctions on non-compliant countries, but its findings are used to influence government and corporate policies.

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