President Arif Alvi on Thursday ratified the Anti-Money Laundering Amendment Act 2020, the new law will come into effect immediately after its passing.
The approval for this amendment has fulfilled one of the major requirements of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) which had asked Pakistan to find permanent solutions to rampant corruption in the country.
According to the new law, individuals and entities found involved in money laundering will be given severe punishments which may include rigorous imprisonment of up to ten years and fine of up to 25 million rupees, the individual and/or entity shall also be liable to forfeiture of property.
The bill also allows investigators to carry out covert operations against individuals and entities who they deem can be involved in corruption, the investigators must first get court’s approval for this though.
Covert operations may include, phone interception and computer system assessment.
It is pertinent to mention here that President Dr Arif Alvi has already signed seven other bills related to FATF in previous joint parliament sessions.
