The government of Pakistan is tightening controls over National Savings Schemes to fulfill compliance with FATF requirements and prevent money laundering and terrorist financing transactions from NSS.
As per the details, the Central Directorate for National Savings (CDNS) has prepared a comprehensive client verification framework and issued guidelines for all of its regional offices in the country.
The plan was prepared by the CDNS’ Anti-Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism Review Board in consultation with the Financial Monitoring Unit (FMU).
The plan encourages national savings Schemes Offices across the country to follow the guidelines when checking and tracking the habits of savings certificates and prize bonds.
All customers whose total investment, account balance or transaction activity does not match their business, known funds, or the stated purpose of the products will be verified.
Authorities have also issued red flags for transaction patterns for all products, including certificates, invoices, and prize bonds.
National Saving Schemes have roughly Rs. 3 trillion of Investors money parked in various products ranging from Prize Bonds to Deposit accounts. However, as per past practise, there was no requirement of Customer Due Diligence at the time of account opening or purchase of Prize Bonds. This praticse was highlighted by Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in its review report where Pakistan was included in Grey List.
Government is currently working to resolve the issues and achieve FATF compliance in this regard.
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