Pakistan among 50 worst terror financing countries
ISLAMABAD: The latest Basel Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Index figures Pakistan among the 50 worst countries in terms of money laundering and ‘terrorist financing’.
This study by a Swiss group, the Basel Institute on Governance, listing the worst countries with greater chances of money laundering and terror financing, ranks Pakistan at the 46th position among in the list 146 countries made part of study. Tax havens like some offshore jurisdictions and some other countries are not made part of this study because of non-availability of complete data about them.
The Basel Institute of Governance, which works with the public and private sector to counter corruption, released its annual Anti Money Laundering (AML) index 2017 in the third week of August and some of its findings were reported by international media.
The Basel AML Index measures the risk of money laundering and terrorist financing of countries based on publicly available sources. A total of 14 indicators dealing with AML/CFT regulations, corruption, financial standards, political disclosure and the rule of law are aggregated into one overall risk score. By combining these various data sources, the overall risk score represents a holistic assessment addressing structural as well as functional elements in the AML/CFT framework.
To date, the Basel AML Index is the only index issued by an independent, not-for-profit organisation ranking countries according to their risk of money laundering and terrorist financing. According to the introduction of the report, the results of the Basel AML Index are driven from 14 indicators using publicly available sources such as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), Transparency International, the World Bank and the World Economic Forum. The scores are aggregated as a composite index using a qualitative and expert-based assessment.
The Basel AML Index 2017 has given Pakistan a score of 6.64. The worst score are Iran (8.6), Afghanistan (8.38), Guinea-Bissau (8.35), Tajikistan (8.28), Laos (8.28), Mozambique (8.08), Mali (7.97), Uganda (7.95), Cambodia (7.94). These countries top the list. The best performance in effective monitoring of banking and all financial transactions, according to this study, is of Finland with a score 3.04. Thus Finland falls at the bottom of the list and ranked at position 146. Other countries with best controls and monitoring of financial transactions after Finland are; Lithuania (3.67), Estonia (3.83), Bulgaria (3.87), New Zealand (3.91),
Slovenia (4.02), Denmark (3.05).According to Basel AML Index, the Basel Institute has conducted extensive research in calculating the final results following academic best practices and has its methodology reviewed and validated by an international and independent panel of peer reviewers. The committee also checks that the rating is accurate, plausible and continues to capture the latest development in the area of AML/CFT risks.
According to the report, it is important to note and understand that there are no reliable quantitative data on money laundering available. The Basel AML Index does not measure the actual existence of money laundering activity or amount of illicit financial money within a country but is designed to indicate the risk level, i.e. the vulnerabilities of money laundering and terrorist financing within a country. Measuring the actual existence of ML or TF activity would require reliable quantitative data on these phenomena, and this is not available.
The Basel AML Index ranks countries based on the overall score and provides data that is useful for comparative purposes. However, it should be pointed out that the primary objective is not to rank countries in comparison to each other. Rather, the Basel AML Index seeks to provide an overall picture of a country’s risk level and to serve as a solid starting point for examining progress over time.
Source
September 7, 2017
ISLAMABAD: The latest Basel Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Index figures Pakistan among the 50 worst countries in terms of money laundering and ‘terrorist financing’.
This study by a Swiss group, the Basel Institute on Governance, listing the worst countries with greater chances of money laundering and terror financing, ranks Pakistan at the 46th position among in the list 146 countries made part of study. Tax havens like some offshore jurisdictions and some other countries are not made part of this study because of non-availability of complete data about them.
The Basel Institute of Governance, which works with the public and private sector to counter corruption, released its annual Anti Money Laundering (AML) index 2017 in the third week of August and some of its findings were reported by international media.
The Basel AML Index measures the risk of money laundering and terrorist financing of countries based on publicly available sources. A total of 14 indicators dealing with AML/CFT regulations, corruption, financial standards, political disclosure and the rule of law are aggregated into one overall risk score. By combining these various data sources, the overall risk score represents a holistic assessment addressing structural as well as functional elements in the AML/CFT framework.
To date, the Basel AML Index is the only index issued by an independent, not-for-profit organisation ranking countries according to their risk of money laundering and terrorist financing. According to the introduction of the report, the results of the Basel AML Index are driven from 14 indicators using publicly available sources such as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), Transparency International, the World Bank and the World Economic Forum. The scores are aggregated as a composite index using a qualitative and expert-based assessment.
The Basel AML Index 2017 has given Pakistan a score of 6.64. The worst score are Iran (8.6), Afghanistan (8.38), Guinea-Bissau (8.35), Tajikistan (8.28), Laos (8.28), Mozambique (8.08), Mali (7.97), Uganda (7.95), Cambodia (7.94). These countries top the list. The best performance in effective monitoring of banking and all financial transactions, according to this study, is of Finland with a score 3.04. Thus Finland falls at the bottom of the list and ranked at position 146. Other countries with best controls and monitoring of financial transactions after Finland are; Lithuania (3.67), Estonia (3.83), Bulgaria (3.87), New Zealand (3.91),
Slovenia (4.02), Denmark (3.05).According to Basel AML Index, the Basel Institute has conducted extensive research in calculating the final results following academic best practices and has its methodology reviewed and validated by an international and independent panel of peer reviewers. The committee also checks that the rating is accurate, plausible and continues to capture the latest development in the area of AML/CFT risks.
According to the report, it is important to note and understand that there are no reliable quantitative data on money laundering available. The Basel AML Index does not measure the actual existence of money laundering activity or amount of illicit financial money within a country but is designed to indicate the risk level, i.e. the vulnerabilities of money laundering and terrorist financing within a country. Measuring the actual existence of ML or TF activity would require reliable quantitative data on these phenomena, and this is not available.
The Basel AML Index ranks countries based on the overall score and provides data that is useful for comparative purposes. However, it should be pointed out that the primary objective is not to rank countries in comparison to each other. Rather, the Basel AML Index seeks to provide an overall picture of a country’s risk level and to serve as a solid starting point for examining progress over time.
Source
September 7, 2017
- Featured Thumbs
- http://i.imgur.com/9lsZDcZ.jpg
Last edited:
