According to the latest report by a Swiss group – Basel Institute on Governance – Pakistan is on the 46th position on a list of 146 countries that face significant money laundering and terrorism financing risks.
In its 2017 edition of the Basel Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Index, the Basel Institute on Governance, which works with the public and private sector to counter corruption, has assessed 146 countries regarding money laundering and terrorism financing risks, a private television channel reported Saturday.
The report was released last month, but it caught the attention of the South Asian media after an official US broadcasting service published extracts from the study.
Report terms war-torn Afghanistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka as the most vulnerable to abovementioned threats in the South Asian region. India has been placed at 88th spot with 5.58 marks by Swiss organisation.
According to the report, the 10 countries with the highest money laundering risk are Iran, Afghanistan, Guinea-Bissau, Tajikistan, Laos, Mozambique, Mali, Uganda, Cambodia and Tanzania. While the three lowest risk countries are Finland, Lithuania and Estonia.
The 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 framework.
Top-ranked Iran has scored 8.60 marks and bottom-ranked Finland 3.04 while average score is 6.15. China is 51st with 6.53 points and the United States 116th with 4.85 points. The greatest improvements since last year have been made by Sudan, Taiwan, Israel and Bangladesh. The countries that deteriorated most severely in their scores this year are Jamaica, Tunisia, Hungary, Uzbekistan and Peru.
With 8.60 out of 10, Iran tops the list of 50 highest-risk countries, followed by Afghanistan with 8.38 points. Guinea-Bissau is third with 8.35 points and Tajikistan fourth with 8.28 points. There are four Muslim countries among the 10 highest risk countries — Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and Mali, which is seventh with 7.97 points. Saudi Arabia is 93rd with 5.43 points. Myanmar, which also faces significant religious and ethnic violence, is 13th with 7.58 points.
